When they finally finished, Melinda was exhausted enough to let him carry her. It looked that an endless chain of pleasure stretched for six hours was enough to break her famous stoic attitude.
She was already sleeping when they were at the elevator.
When he arrived at the penthouse, Skye was there, her attention on the screen. “Hey. Jemma was looking for you; did she find you?” he asked. “Did you guys have a fight or something?”
“We did. She found me, but she was acting even more distressed, so I forgave her. It wasn’t a big deal. She was just getting weird about researching my genes,” she said.
He smirked. “Maybe she was distressed by something else.”
“Maybe, but I can’t exactly—“ Skye started as she turned toward him, only to freeze, seeing him carrying Melinda in his arms, sleeping. “Well, that would do it,” she stammered, looking at Melinda’s naked body. “Let me guess, she walked on you two … exercising.”
“Yes. Poor girl, she insisted on seeing you even when I told her she wasn’t inside.”
“And Agent May didn’t say anything either?”
He snorted. “Of course not, she’s a prankster.”
That made Skye laugh. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Agent May isn’t a prankster.”
“Tell me, then. Back when you were with the team, have you ever been a time when one of the other team members had been busted for a prank, but even then they refused to admit it. Maybe even acting more confused than usual.”
“Well, a few times—“ she said, then froze. “Don’t tell me she is responsible.”
“Of course,” he said. “Actually, take this as a lesson. You can’t rely on your first impressions to assess people. The thing with Melinda and pranks is harmless, but it could have been reversed equally easily.”
“Is it really that bad?” she said.
“Worse,” he said. “Even Phil has been occasionally tricked due to his inclination to see the best in people, and he must be the most perceptive person without powers I had ever met.”
“Really, even more than Black Widow.”
“Even her,” he said. “Natasha is amazing, and she will catch a liar before Phil, but only because she would be looking for lies in your every word. Phil extends trust first, yet he catches most lies. That’s far harder. Still, it bites him too many times.”
“Are you saying Agent Coulson is not competent?”
“No, I’m saying Phil is not an ideal solo operative. But, he’s a much better team leader, especially a chaotic one like yours. But that’s enough talking,” he said. “Come to the bed, and let’s sleep.”
Her eyes widened. “I was thinking of going back to my room.”
He smirked. “You can, or you can see Melinda’s face when she wakes up, being cuddled by both of us.”
Skye smirked. “Fine, let me take a shower, and I’ll join you.”
With that, he carried Melinda to his bed, picked a spare nightie to put on her body, and cuddled her. Soft Hugger worked even when she was unconscious, and Melinda clamped him like a cute koala, her peaceful expression unlike her usual cold attitude.
She was surprisingly cheerful without constantly suppressing her trauma. He hugged her tighter.
When Skye joined, she commented on it as well. “She looks so … happy.”
“It’s another cost of the spy life,” he said with a solemn tone. “Eventually, it haunts and destroys your life. When you spend your whole life fighting against the dark, you can’t get scot-free.”
Skye said nothing, but when she slipped into bed and lay on his other side, he noticed that she squeezed him tighter.
&&&
That turned into a pattern. For the next few days, Melinda still left for her missions, supposedly from Phil but actually from Fury, but when she returned, she joined his bed. Sometimes, they had a quickie, other times, she merely hugged him and went to sleep.
Skye let that pass without comment, even when three of them shared a bed, realizing just how much Melinda needed the comfort in her life. He allowed as well.
The only change was that previously, he didn’t care about her missions in the slightest. It was her job, and it was her list. Unfortunately, he had a soft spot for sexy and capable ladies with emotional problems, especially when they shared his bed regularly.
Which was why he sent a few drones to observe her from a great distance, trying to understand her mission. It turned out to be relatively routine. She either had encrypted calls with Fury, receiving instructions, or carefully observed SHIELD agents from a distance, mapping their movements; which was then compared to their official records by Fury.
It was a simple method, but it was effective. The easiest way to catch irregularities was to compare the data and the reality.
However, simple wasn’t easy. Anyone assigned to the task had to be trustworthy; which was a challenge for a spy organization going through some kind of internal mess, leaving Fury with a limited number of people he could trust. Worse, Fury couldn’t simply assign everyone he trusted to that task without alerting the other faction.
For example, mobilizing Phil would alert anyone. Normally, Melinda would have been in the same category, but moving her to ‘protect’ Skye and Jemma a convincing excuse while Melinda vetted the SHIELD teams operating from New York Headquarters.
He didn’t intervene, but he did assign several automated protective drones to her, ready to activate if she was ever in mortal danger.
Meanwhile, he focused on two things. One, he was putting Melinda’s incredible gift to him to good use. The innovation booster from Tinker trait worked wonders, especially since he was currently with access to two different alien tech bases, not to mention a lot of schematics he had hacked from when he hacked various SHIELD databases, from the helicarrier to Phil’s mobile base.
It had been especially helpful building his Pluto base.
His automatic machines were furiously digging underneath, establishing factories. Despite the temptation of achieving exponential growth, he had dedicated the first three factories to weapons rather than more production; one for star fighters, one for Sutherlands—currently at Mark 6—, and one for personnel weapons, including exosuits that could be distributed to masses in case of an existential threat.
He had no idea how an interstellar battle was conducted, but he doubted it was good.
The other thing he focused on was teasing Jemma. Seeing him with Melinda, followed by Skye’s nonchalant reaction, showed her that technically, he was not off-the-market. That made her react to his flirting with a cute blush that made him wonder whether she would faint, watching him from a distance with desire in her eyes, yet stammering whenever he flirted with her openly.
A whisper would be enough for her to take that last step. That was why he held back, amused by the situation. He wanted her to act first.
A little test of courage for the cute scientist.
It was a nice setup, good enough to stop him from getting antsy for a couple of months, though he still planned to make a trip to Los Angeles and Greenwich, each location with a pair of beautiful ladies he had been waiting for his attention for a while.
Unfortunately, the world decided to disrupt his actions. Two things alerted him. The first was his automatic passive observation system, flagging suspicious movement in the SHIELD agents that had been tagged.
Then, merely a minute later, he received a call from Natasha from the emergency line. And, as he answered, the alerts mentioned that the call was supposed to be blocked, because right as the call began, a cyberattack took over his dummy layer.
Luckily, he was prepared for far worse attacks. “Hello, sweetie.”
“I need a favor,” she said, her voice tense.
“You know you don’t have to ask for favors, right? Just asking for help is enough. Tell me,” he said.
“This one, I probably need. Fury had just been heavily injured in an assassination attempt, and we’re moving him to the hospital. His situation is critical.”
Michael’s expression tightened as he reached his computer, checking the reports of movement; but luckily, it didn’t look like a civil war but a surgical strike. Still, he sent a warning to Phil from Professor Azure, suggesting that he send Agent Ward on a mission in the middle of nowhere and be ready to act.
A message that had been prevented from reaching Phil, countered by SHIELD computers. He shook his head in disappointment.
He expected more from Fury.
Instead, he activated his backdoor, and started observing the situation, ready to intervene if necessary. But, a quick check was enough to show that Phil’s plane had been hacked, and currently being led to a SHIELD base, with John Garrett waiting, he realized he had a few hours before he come to a decision.
It was lucky Phil’s plane was over Atlantic, giving him time to set some pieces before interfere.
“I’ll come,” he said. “Just because I believe Fury is incompetent doesn’t mean I have a grudge against the guy. I won’t refuse to heal him. But, to be on the safe side, tell everyone that I’m going to be taking my helicopter immediately.”
He neglected to mention that if Phil or Natasha didn’t like the guy from the days, they were on the field together, he wouldn’t have cared one way or another.
“But you won’t,” she said.
“Yeah. If someone assassinated Fury, they wouldn’t let the most famous healer reach him.”
“They will shoot it down,” she said.
“I doubt it. I’m willing to bet that they will send escorts, only for those escorts to take me to a black site. I’ll take a car, it gives the best combination of speed and mobility in case they block the roads as well.”
“You think they might go that far,” Natasha asked.
“Yeah. Didn’t Fury say anything about trying to cleanse a rival faction from SHIELD? The ones that tried to launch the nuke.”
Natasha tensed. “No, he did not. He asked for a few missions, but never mentioned why.”
“Of course he didn’t,” he said, exasperated, then frowned. “I’ll be on my way. Call me again if his situation gets worse,” he said.
As much as he didn’t like Fury, his survival was kind of critical to ensure his faction survived; which he liked considerably more.
He rushed to find Skye and Simmons. They were at the lab, and currently Skye was talking to Ward. “… it’s an emergency, Skye. You have to leave, and come to the coordinates I shared.”
Skye looked at him, and he nodded. “We’ll be there in an hour,” she promised and ended the call. But, before she moved, he grabbed her waist. “Stop, you’re not leaving,” he said.
“Why?” she said.
“Because Fury has just been assassinated, and we’re dealing with what might be a SHIELD civil war. Ward is calling you because …”
“No, he can’t be on the other side,” Jemma gasped. “He’s our friend.”
“Maybe, but he’s also a spy working for another internal faction, one that Phil and Fury were trying to clean up.”
“Why do you know it?” Jemma asked.
“Because I have been warned by Professor Azure when I have been summoned to heal Skye, warning me not to trust John Garrett. We suspect he’s the one who arranged Skye’s situation because he needed GH-325.”
“It can’t be,” Jemma said, while Skye’s gaze tightened. She still nodded, believing him. When Skye agreed, Jemma softened. Soon, she agreed.
One benefit of saving the world while on camera, that it made one more convincing.
“What are we going to do?” Skye asked.
“You have two choices. Either you stay in here, and I activate the defenses. If I do, this place will turn into a fortress, with no one is coming in or out. Or, you come with me.”
“I will, but Jemma—“ Skye started, but Jemma jumped in, cutting her off.
“If you think I’ll consent to stay back—“
“It’s too dangerous, and you don’t have powers—“
“And you don’t have actual training—“
He sighed. Any other time, he would have been happy to watch them fight, maybe even deliberately escalate so that they could help them ‘calm down’ but the situation was too serious. “If you want to come, come. We will pick Melinda up on the way as well. And, we’ll take a modified car, so it’s safe,” he said.
“Car, not helicopter?” Skye said.
“Nope. The helicopter will be the bait. I have a bet with Natasha on exactly where it’ll be boarded.”
“Natasha?” Jemma asked.
“Black Widow,” Skye said.
“You’re on a first-name basis with an Avenger—“ Jemma started, then paused. “Of course you are,” she added.
That made Skye chuckle, who had a much better understanding about how close he was to Natasha. Too bad the situation was too serious, and he couldn’t mock them. “Both of you, wear exosuits before we leave. The car is armored, but better safe than sorry.”
“What about weapons?” Jemma said.
“The car already has a full loadout, just like the helicopter.”
“Isn’t it a bit paranoid?”
That made him chuckle. “Of course. Because I’m not living in a city that had just been invaded by aliens a couple of months ago, and we’re currently not going to save the director of a spy agency from his own agents. Having some weapons in my getaway car is totally paranoid.”
“Fine. I get it,” Jemma admitted, her pout surprisingly cute.
“Let’s move,” Skye said.
“What about the research data?” Jemma asked.
“Don’t worry about it. This place is probably safer than the Pentagon. There’s a reason I wasn’t worried about leaving you two behind if you wanted to sit this out,” he said.
Once they finished, Jemma and Skye got ready in two minutes, which he used to go down to the garage, warm up the car while also setting up other things.
Which included activating several digital attacks from various fake bases. He had been reluctant to test SHIELD’s defenses before, not wanting to reveal his hand even through his fake identities.
But, this time, he was confident it would stay hidden. A part of it was his new supercomputers, which he upgraded immediately after receiving his Tinker Trait to include a lot of innovative structures, including some unique Kree and Chitauri tricks.
But the real reason was SHIELD. The other faction might have taken over most of the computational power, but they were using it to block Fury’s faction from doing anything and raising alerts.
That created a unique moment of vulnerability to external attacks, which he was using to worm his way in. It would probably cost him a few auxiliary bases, but blowing up equipment that would take a minute to replace was hardly a sacrifice.
When Jemma and Skye arrived, he pointed them to the backseat of his largest SUV, which, unlike his other cars, was not a cool restored classic, but a boring blue SUV that looked completely ordinary from the outside. “Unfortunately, we can’t ride anything fun,” Michael said.
“Where’s Agent May?” Jemma asked.
“We’ll pick her up on the way,” he reminded, glad that he had assigned multiple drones to protect her, as he had to use one to arrange an accident for a sniper who was about to shoot her.
They might not be designed for fighting, but giving a push to a sniper trying to jump between roofs didn’t need weapons. A bad fall and a broken neck were enough.
There was no reward for killing a SHIELD agent. Weird. He would have assumed it being at least worth a silver ticket.
But, he didn’t care about that, and instead drove toward Melinda, using his own tools to hack the cameras on the way. He was able to, because SHIELD supercomputers hacked their control mechanisms.
“Aren’t we driving a bit slow?” Skye said. “I can drive if you want.”
He smirked in amusement. “We don’t want to be noticed, so until we leave the city, we’ll take it relatively slow,” he said. “If you still think I’m driving too cautiously once we’ve left the city, I’ll let you drive.”
“Deal,” Skye said, wanting to show off.
He smiled as he drove toward Melinda. He could have hacked the cameras to hide their disappearance, but he did not. While that meant once they had realized the helicopter was empty, they could track him, but he was willing to take the risk.
The car had multiple energy shields, which, once activated, were strong enough to hold back a nuclear explosion. Meaning, no matter what they sent, he could hold out until ‘Professor Azure’ could send help.
Just in case, he had another automated jet with cloaking device to follow them from some distance.
When he pulled the car in front of Melinda, tinted windows making it impossible for her to see, she immediately tensed. He opened the door, and smiled. “Come with me if you want to live,” he said.
Her gaze showed annoyance, but seeing both Skye and Jemma on the backseat, armed, she realized the situation was serious enough to ignore his joke. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Natasha had just called. Fury has been assassinated in DC, his situation is critical. I’m driving to help.”
“And these two? They should stay behind.”
“Do you think they will obediently stay in the safehouse when there’s danger?”
Melinda sighed. “You have a point. And, we’re not taking the helicopter because?”
“Too visible. Between it getting shot, or getting arrested for unscheduled flight, there are too many vulnerabilities.”
“Good point,” she said.
They started riding. Just as they were clearing the boundaries, he pressed a button, and a screen appeared on the dashboard, showing the video feed from his helicopter. Three fighter jets were flying near, following.
“Air force, why?” Melinda muttered, surprised.
He nodded, surprised by it as well. Admittedly, his hacking wasn’t too deep, but nothing he had done had shown anything related to communication between military the other faction. Either one of them called in a huge personal favor … or the conspiracy was far bigger than he had given credit for.
With his luck, he had a good guess as to which one it would be.
Luckily, he had the perfect bait. Himself.
As he drove away, he used his Radio Waves ability to give new commands to his systems, letting the SHIELD systems catch his face in one of the cameras, including the license plate. An added benefit, it would be a good way to give Skye a taste of actual combat while she believed herself to be in danger.
After all, ultimately, there was no place safer than his side.
“Alright, ladies, hold on tight and put on your seatbelts,” he said as he pushed the engine to its limits.
Melinda didn’t react much, easily recognizing a skilled driver. Skye and Jemma shouted, Jemma with fear, and Skye with excitement.
It was time for a SHIELD mission.