Hello, everyone. Here is Chapter 21 of the Perfect One. The efforts of Coulson's team in dealing with Project Centipede has succeeded in taking down three Centipede soldiers and the capture of their recruiter. While they were dealt with as a result some secrets were shared among the team including Will's identity as Aegis. Equally important is Coulson learning the truth about his resurrection, so Fury has explaining to do. Enjoy!

The Perfect One: The Truth

Triskelion, Washington DC: November 2013

SHIELD 6-1-6 AKA the CDX 23215 Airborne Mobile Command Station AKA the BUS had arrived in DC airspace in record breaking time after getting direct orders from Deputy Director Maria Hill. Director Fury wanted to see Coulson and Will right away and they knew what it was in regard to. It was a conversation that was long overdue, especially for Coulson and there would definitely be some raised voices. The BUS was cleared for landing at the private airfield near the Triskelion where other SHIELD planes were parked including Quinjets. The ground crew got to work securing the aircraft and began doing general maintenance such as refueling and repair and while they were at the Triskelion the BUS could refit and restock.

Ward, Skye, and Fitz-Simmons were all situated in the living area of the BUS, none of them aware of the reason why were they suddenly called back to the Triskelion but if they had to guess it would have to do with what had just happened with Centipede and Coulson's kidnapping. Coulson hadn't said much if anything since what happened and not only that, but the team was grappling with the discovery that Will was Aegis, the Avenger's telekinetic powerhouse. Although now that they had that information it did make a lot about him make more sense. His unprecedented access level, his close relationship with Coulson, Fury, Hill, and other high ranking SHIELD agents and his tremendous skill despite his age. Naturally they had plenty of questions, but Will and Coulson kept themselves isolated since the dealings with Centipede and the entire plane ride back to the Triskelion. Now that they had arrived perhaps they could finally talk. They waited in the living area for a team meeting when they saw Coulson and Will walk over with May. They exited the BUS and entered the Triskelion much like when the Team arrived at the HUB. This was Skye's first time at the Triskelion, and she was intrigued to say the least. Coulson, Will, and May stayed silent until they arrived at a checkpoint and scanned their badges. They were cleared to pass but Ward and the others weren't.

"Refit and restock the BUS. We'll be back." Coulson told them before he, May, and Will continued on.

Skye went to follow despite essentially being left behind when Ward stopped her. "Sneaking in at the HUB was one thing but at the Triskelion is another." Ward told her.

"Especially if they're meeting with Deputy Director Hill and Director Fury. They won't arrest you, they'd shoot you." Simmons warned her.

"Ok. Warning received." Skye backed off. They could do nothing but wait as Coulson, May, and Will had to meet with the Director of SHIELD himself. She wondered what they could be discussing and if it really was just about Will being an Avenger. Seems kind of overkill for that and if it was about that she figured they'd be involved with it. Skye figured that they'd get called in by Director Fury and sworn to secrecy, but they were left out of the meeting, so it had to be about something else, right?

After being checked over by security and handing over all weapons, Will, Coulson, and May entered an elevator and pressed the button for the floor of Director Fury. The camera in the elevator scanned their faces to confirm their identities and then their SHIELD photos/profiles appeared on the smart glass along with their clearance levels showing that Coulson and Will had Level-8 clearance levels while May had Level-7. Their pictures were lit green, indicating they were approved to continue, and the elevator took them to Director Fury's floor.

A quick walk down the hall to the only office on the floor which was Director Fury's obviously. Waiting by the door to his office was Deputy Director Maria Hill. "He's inside and just fair warning, he didn't look happy."

"When has he ever been happy?" Will pointed out as they walked in. Fury was sitting at his desk but looked up when they walked in. Hill locked the door behind her, and Fury pressed a few buttons on his desk to secure the room, so they weren't spied in. Shutters came down over the windows and anti-monitoring software locked down all the computers, smart tablets, monitors, and everything electronic in the room, including their phones. "Director Fury."

"Coulson, how are you feeling?" Fury asked him.

"With all due respect, sir, you don't want an answer to that but I'm alive and given a clean bill of health from the medics." Coulson said and Fury nodded. "But rest assured, Raina and Centipede didn't get anything from me about how I died or how I came back. Will and I made sure of that."

"I understand that you've been through a lot these past few days, Coulson. And I'm also aware of how they ended. First, let me start off with that I'm glad you're safe." Fury said and Coulson nodded. "And I'm guessing Will told you about Project Tahiti as well. He must have since you visited Dr. Streiten. I believe my orders were clear on the matter, Agent Detmer."

"They were sir. But the situation was rapidly developing and as you said unless Coulson was showing signs of mental distress, or he figured it out himself I was not to tell him. Coulson put enough of it together on his own to where I decided that he could handle the truth that you entrusted to me." Will answered and he was technically telling the truth. If Coulson had been blissfully ignorant of whatever was going on than Will would have waited but with everything that was going on and Coulson knowing that things weren't right than he took that as the chance to tell him. "And he's fine, sir. I'm sure of it though as you can guess he's not exactly thrilled."

"No, I imagine he's not." Fury admitted. "Agent Coulson, I want you to know that first and foremost that my decision to bring you back was something that was my idea alone. And any grievance you have should be directed towards me. Not Hill or anyone else."

"Now even the World Security Council?" Will wondered and Fury shook his head no.

"Especially them because they have no idea what was done or what Project Tahiti even was or that it even exists. That was something I could only trust to one man and that was you, Agent Coulson." Fury said to him. "I understand you don't remember but if Agent Detmer showed you enough than you should know that Project Tahiti was something started with the best of intentions but was also dangerous which is why I had to entrust it to someone with the best judgement. Having said that, what will be discussed going forward is sensitive information so perhaps Agent May should step out."

"No need, Director Fury. May can stay. She should since you had her keeping an eye on me." Coulson told him and Fury sighed.

"Wasn't that hard to figure out after some time. Out of everyone on the BUS on Coulson's team she was the only one who knew him like I did. Makes sense you would have someone else who knew him watching over in case something happened." Will pointed out. "The real question is whether you asked her before or after Coulson went to her."

Fury looked over at May and gave her a nod, so she took a deep breath before she started talking. "It was before. Director Fury knew that Coulson would want me on his team, so he asked me to keep an eye on him for any signs of physical or mental deterioration. And he wanted me to prepare for the worst."

"Prepare how?" Coulson asked her.

"In the event that the worst came to happen, I would need help in stopping you so I evaluated what would be needed and I gave that assessment to Fury, and he gave you the parameters of your unit. Someone who could repair your body, a technician who could reprogram your brain, and a specialist to help me stop you if it came to it." May answered. "But I didn't do it just because Fury asked me, I did it for you, to protect you, Coulson, to help you. I…when I heard you were dead…it was devastating."

"And you proved that you cared about me by lying and spying on me for months?" Coulson asked when he wondered something. "Did you know about Tahiti?"

"Agent May did not know about Tahiti, Agent Coulson. All that she was made aware of is that a secret SHIELD project brought you back but required your memory to be erased. She had nothing to do with it. I only brought her on to look after you because I knew she cared." Fury said. "Same with Agent Detmer. Like Agent May, he knew who you were before and cared about you. That familial bond meant they would want to ensure you were safe and that if there was any sign of something going wrong they would want to help."

"By spying on me? Lying to me for months?" Coulson asked him.

"If Agent Detmer informed you of Tahiti than you need to understand that it was a necessary precaution. We were in uncharted territory, Agent Coulson, and some extreme measures were warranted. Project Tahiti's adverse effects on a subject's mental state was the primary reason for its shutdown and as you yourself reported the only remedy was memory replacement but its success was not assured. That's the reason I had Will and May look after you. It was to watch incase the process began to deteriorate, or any other symptoms emerged." Fury told him. "I know you can't remember but from your reports, it was a necessary evil."

"The test subjects…I wasn't the only person Tahiti was used on, was I?" Coulson stated and the silence he got from Fury and look from Hill were his answers. "Who were they?"

"Volunteers." Fury answered. "SHIELD agents, good agents like yourself who were dying. Modern science has done a lot but even with our resources there's still a lot we couldn't fix."

"Cancer and genetic diseases." Will guessed and Fury nodded.

"The six subjects for Project Tahiti volunteered knowing full well what could happen and as your reports indicated while we were successful in regenerating healthy tissue and reversing the fatal ailments they were suffering from…they began to regress soon after."

"Hypergraphia, aphasia, catatonia or complete psychosis." Will recounted from the Tahiti report Fury showed him.

"They were good men and women who wanted a second chance and while they got it they were put through things I would never have approved of in the first place had I known what would happen. But once the genie is out of the bottle it's hard to cram it back in." Fury explained. "On Coulson's instruction I shut the program down, the agents were given new memories and new identities for civilian life. It's the least we could do."

"How are they?" Coulson asked him.

"They're fine. Living completely normal lives now. I have them checked up on every now and then." Fury answered. "They're able to live normal lives again when they would otherwise have died. Project Tahiti may not have been what either of us initially envisioned or wanted but I don't regret the fact that it brought you back. Having said all of that, I can tell that you're bottling up how you feel so good ahead."

"Well, first off…" Coulson walked over to Fury and sucker punched him across the face.

"Holy crap…" Will muttered with May and Hill in stunned silenced about what just happened. Coulson actually punched Fury in the face. The head of SHIELD, one of the most powerful men and spies in the world just got sucker punched in the face and it was Coulson of all people. No one in that room would have thought that he had it in him to hit Fury of all people, but he did. Granted, Coulson had more right than anyone to punch Fury in the face for what happened but still, to see it was something. Anyone else who tried that would likely end up dead but with Coulson it looks like Fury might let it happen without an issue. Oh boy was Will going to cherish this memory in his head from now on.

What came next was the longest anger-fueled tirade any of them had ever experienced in their life. It was 100% warranted and Coulson had been bottling up a lot of that. With the discovery and revelation being relatively fresh, the emotions Coulson was feeling hit more compared to if it had been weeks later. Fury just sat back in his chair and let Coulson express how he was feeling, which he felt was owed at the very least. Basically, it was a lot of angry yelling and cursing out Fury for what he put him through. "…Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And cruel! And very stupid!"

"I think you made your point." Fury stopped him from repeating himself.

"Why bring me back in the first place? Clearly, I didn't think it was the best idea. I warned you about people losing their minds."

"Agent May and Detmer were on top of the situation. They say you're fine. Aren't you?" Fury asked and Coulson shrugged. "It was a break glass in case of emergency situation."

"Yes, but that emergency was supposed to be the fall of an Avenger."

"Exactly." Fury said, meaning that Coulson was as much a part of the Avengers Initiative as Will or the others. "And I'm damn glad I did it, too. When you want to build something, you need a strong foundation. Now, you know how few people I trust, Coulson."

"You can count them on one hand."

"And I'm not afraid to cut off fingers. The principle SHIELD was founded upon was pure." Fury told him.

"Protection." Will said.

"Protection. One word with complex meaning depending on how you look at it. Sometimes to protect one man against himself. Other times to protect the planet against an alien invasion from another universe. It's a broad job description."

"Isn't that the truth." Will remarked.

"But the belief that drives us all is the same, whether it's one man or all mankind." Fury continued.

"That they're worth saving." Coulson finished.

"That truth lives inside you, Coulson, even more so now than it did before. SHIELD has done a lot of things that don't exactly put us in a good light, but men like you, Coulson, like Will…you're proof that the core foundation of SHIELD is still pure. You inspire and lead others by example and it's because of that hope that agents like me do what needs to be done." Fury told him.

"But erasing my memory? Putting me through Tahiti? Everything we've done. At what point is there no longer a line to cross, Director?" Coulson asked him when Will knew the answer.

"We draw the line wherever we need it. We get our hands dirty, and the rest of the world stays clean. That's our mission. At the end of the day…someone has to make the enemy scared of the dark." Will recited the words Fury told him when he asked that question.

"I'm aware of that, sir, I've heard that line before. I've even given it to others but still, some lines can't be crossed." Coulson told him.

"Which is why agents like you and Detmer are a part of SHIELD. So that what we can do is tempered with what we shouldn't." Fury told him before he got up and handed Coulson a file. It had a stamp on it that read: Agent Phillip Coulson Project Tahiti Level-10 Clearance Classified. "Hopefully this can give you some more answers and closure."

"What is this?" Coulson asked him.

"The truth." Fury answered. "Take your time. You out of anyone has earned it."

"Sir." Coulson gave him a salute before he, Will, and May left his office. Once they were alone, Hill looked over at Fury.

"So, sir? What do you think?" She wondered.

"Coulson is as tough as they come and his loyalty to what SHIELD believes in will never be in question. The real question is whether or not he can come to terms with what happened." Fury said, gingerly touching the cheek which stung a bit from Coulson's punch. He really put a lot into it.

Will, Coulson, and May walked down the hall towards the elevator and got in, all without saying a word. As they listened to the rhythmic ding of the elevator, Will was the first one to break the silence. "First off…I just want to say…that the punch…was awesome." Will said to Coulson. "Thank you because that is one memory I am for sure not going to forget anytime soon. Or ever for that matter."

"I honestly wasn't expecting that." May stated.

"Neither did I. I didn't think I would do it, but I just did." Coulson though it did feel kind of relieving to deck his boss, he wasn't exactly proud of it. Losing control is something a professional agent shouldn't do after all.

"Well, I think you're the only person ever who just did what you did and got away with it. Not to say that Fury didn't deserve it because he did but oh god do I want to tell everyone what just happened." Will said.

"You do that and Fury's liable to arrest you." Coulson pointed out.

"It'd be worth it. I already know how he got his eyepatch but this…this is just extra icing on that sundae." Will said with a smirk on his face. Coulson though was intrigued that Will knew the truth behind Fury's eye loss and his tone seemed to indicate it wasn't what he believed it was. That he lost the eye to a Kree soldier back when Will's mother helped them in the 90s. "I could use a drink."

"It's 10am." May reminded him.

"After what we've been through, a drink is exactly what's needed. And I'm not talking about the bar on the BUS, I'm talking about a real place to drink. What do you say, Coulson?" Will wondered.

"Yeah, I could use a drink." Coulson replied. "May, you're coming with us."

She didn't put up a fight as Coulson's statement didn't sound like a suggestion. The three went back to the BUS and got into a SHIELD SUV and left before Skye and the others got back from what they were doing. After a quick drive down the isolated and highly monitored highway that connected the Triskelion to the rest of Washington DC, Will took them to a place he knew and parked outside of a small, nondescript bar called Sullivans. It was early so the place wasn't exactly open for business, but it was open. Will walked in followed by Coulson and May to an empty bar which made sense given it was ten in the morning. There didn't seem to be anything special or bad about the bar, just a casual dive that had been around for a while. The only person in the bar was its owner, Jack Sullivan, who was getting the place cleaned up and ready for business later that night.

Jack turned around and was about to tell whoever came in that the bar was closed when he saw it was Will. "Will? Good to see you again. What are you doing here so early?"

"It's been a long few days, Jack. Very long and quite frankly we're all on different time zones. Can we get some drinks?" Will asked and Jack nodded. The three took seats at the bar while Jack walked behind it.

"How bad? Curing a hangover or bad night?" Jack asked.

"Bad night." They all replied, and Jack nodded, placing three glasses on the bar, and pouring them some whiskey.

"Thanks, Jack." Will put some cash on the bar and all three took the glasses of whiskey and gulped them down.

"Bad, bad night." Jack refilled their glasses. "Will, you mind watching over the place? I've still got to set up."

"Go ahead. I got it." Will promised and Jack left them to go handle getting the bar cleaned up and ready. As Jack walked away, he passed the back wall where there were various pictures put up. Some were of old bar patrons, staples of the place that had been around since the bar was built back in the 1930s. Of the pictures of note were of some military veterans over the course of decades from the 30s to present day from various branches of the military. A few famous actors from Hollywood also appeared and one particular photo of note was that of Steve Rogers with the bar's original owner Connor Sullivan back in the 1940s when he was doing the USO tours before he joined the warfront. Another picture of note was of Jack Sullivan when he was much younger when he was in the Airforce. With him was none other than Will's adoptive father Harold Detmer showing that Will's dad and Jack were on the same Airforce Combat team. Another photo then showed them much older when Jack took over the bar from his father Michael Sullivan after his honorable discharge. Also in the picture was Will's dad and mother and a young Will, likely before he was ten. This was how Will knew the bar and Jack and why they were so familiar with each other. After Will became a SHIELD agent and whenever he was in the DC area he often visited Jack and the bar to catch up and as a place to clear his head. Seemed like the perfect place for Will, Coulson, and May after everything that happened.

May looked over and notice Will drinking his glass of whiskey like it was water. "Does that even do anything for you?" She questioned and he shrugged in response.

"Not really. As quick as it comes it goes. Haven't met anything yet that can actually make me feel a buzz. No hangovers is a plus though." Will answered as he saw Coulson nursing his second glass after a small sip. "Any of this helping, Coulson?"

"Still too early to tell." Coulson took another sip and let the whiskey burn his throat. May followed suit as did Will.

"Well, if it's any consolation therapy can help too." Will suggested. "Not me, though. I tried that with Tony, and I fell asleep. I'm not built for that."

"What about what you do with Dr. Banner?" Coulson asked him.

"That's a bit different. It's not really therapy but me providing a mental bridge for him to converse and get a better understanding with the Hulk. The two talk and I'm just the means of them communicating in a way that makes it they don't destroy the tower." Will corrected while pouring himself some more whiskey. "The best I could do is let you view those memories objectively, but we know what happened last time that happened."

"Yeah, that wasn't pleasant." Coulson took another sip of whiskey. "Still, one day I'll need to confront what I did."

"One day but not today." Will reminded him.

"And whatever you think you did you did it for the right reasons, Coulson. You heard Fury." May told him.

"I put those six agents through horrors so bad that the only way to help them was to erase their memories." Coulson reminded her.

"And you put a stop to the project because of it. Any other SHIELD agent or scientist would only care about the potential benefits and put more people through it until it worked out, but you didn't because you knew it was wrong. Fury put you in charge of that project for a reason and it's because he trusted your judgement. And despite what those agents were put through they're alive today and living normal lives because of you when they would have died." Will told him.

"You're a good man, Coulson, one of the best but all of us have marks in our past we're not proud of." May added. "I know that better than most."

"What happened in Bahrain wasn't your fault." Coulson told her.

"And neither was what happened with Project Tahiti. You couldn't have known." May pointed out. "It's my burden to bare as this is yours. If I recovered from what happened to me, you can recover from this. Start one day at a time."

Coulson took another sip of whiskey. "You were put in an impossible position, May. I understand that. I'm not happy being lied to but I get it."

"Hearing you were dead…it was devastating. But Coulson you need to know that when Fury told me you were alive, it was like a shot of adrenaline. I never wanted to lie to you, but I had no idea what was going on. Fury only told me that you were alive and that whatever brought you back could have serious side effects so we would need to be ready. I'm not proud of what I did and I'm sorry." May bared her heart out to him and Coulson reached over, taking one of her hands into his.

"I know. Guess the two of us have things we're both not proud of." Coulson said before he had to ask her something just because. "Are you keeping any other secrets from me?"

"No." May answered and Coulson looked over at Will who gave him a nod.

"Just had to be sure." Coulson told her.

"I get it. Guess it must help to have a human lie detector." May pointed out as Will took another sip of whiskey.

"Comes in handy but don't worry. I don't use my telepathy unless I need to. Too much of a hassle." Will said before he snapped his fingers and the bottles behind the bar began to make a drink for him. He took out some more money from his wallet and placed it on the bar before his finished drink, the Manhattan, was poured into a whiskey glass and placed in front of him. "When I first got my powers, the telekinesis was easy to handle. The more I practiced it the stronger it got and the better I could control it. The telepathy…that's a different story all together. It came later just when I was starting to get a handle on the psychic thing, and it wasn't pleasant."

"What happened?" Coulson wondered.

"I was out with some friends at a club, back when things were still normal and before SHIELD. I was talking to a girl at a bar, got a painful ringing in my head and before I knew it a myriad of voices began to play out in my brain. At first I thought I was going insane and with all those voices going off in my head it was torture. And the worst part was that I couldn't control it. Eventually it stopped but after that…" Will remembered the early days of when his telepathy manifested and those early days of training it. "…it was my own Pandora's box. I was aware that not everyone was a saint. Hell, I was a double major in Psychology, so I knew that already, it's what I was studying but reading about it is nothing compared to hearing it in your head."

"Really? I feel like being able to read minds would be finding the holy grail for a spy." May pointed out. "Assuming this is when Coulson recruited you."

"About that time." Coulson told her.

"I'm not gonna lie and say that it doesn't come in handy. Its helped solve and prevent a lot of issues before they become problems but that was after months of training both with SHIELD and in my own time. Imagine walking down the street and hearing the perverted thoughts of a stepdad towards his stepdaughter, a teacher to a young 15-year-old student, or plans of a home invasion crew who plan on doing unspeakable things to the mother and daughter of the family they plan on robbing." Will recounted and the thousand-yard stare he had on his face showed he wasn't having a pleasant trip down memory lane. "It was worse at night. Trying to sleep and all I could do was hear the thoughts of everyone within five blocks in my head. It was torture."

"Explains why you were such a wreck in the beginning, and I just thought it was about your parents." Coulson said.

"It added to it. And sometimes it got to be too much…and I had to act…" Will remembered one moment in particular.

Flashback…

December 2010 Four months after Will's parents funeral and starting his SHIELD training

Atlantic City, New Jersey

It's late at night in Atlantic City, which is kept busy by the Casino and boardwalk, even in the dead of winter it was lively. That applied to both the legal and illegal side of things. Outside a small nightclub, a group of men were exiting a building with one man in particular, a tall bald man wearing a fur coat and carrying a duffel bag, being the leader. He and his men were heading off to a drug deal but unbeknownst to them they were being watched. Will was watching them from across the street from inside his dad's old truck. He was dressed in sneakers, jeans, and a black hoodie with gloves on his hands. He was using some binoculars to watch from afar and next to him in the passenger seat was his own duffel bag.

The reason Will was watching over them wasn't because they were going to a drug deal. That just happened to be a circumstantial benefit. The real reason was the bald man carrying the duffel bag of drugs. Will's telepathy did him the unfortunate pleasure of letting him hear the thoughts of the mom and daughter and of the man himself. He didn't mean to, but his telepathy was still difficult to control and it's not like SHIELD had an instructional guide on how to help him with it. To make matters worse it would usually flare up when he was trying to sleep so that didn't help. With a little more time, he could make it so that it wasn't a problem but not just yet. The guy he overheard with his telepathy was a piece of shit violent abuser to his wife and young eight-year-old daughter. The guy actually enjoyed it and didn't care about them and despite Will placing an anonymous tip and the police following up on it, nothing was done. The mother and daughter were too scared to press charges and the guy had some juice and money to avoid things progressing past some uniformed officers checking up on him. That was a few days ago and after nights of hearing what was going on, Will couldn't take it anymore and decided to take matters in his own hands, if only to make at least a few of the bad thoughts he kept hearing go away. Will would normally never do something like this unless he was either super drunk or short a few brain cells which he wasn't. He was just a bundle of complex emotions and thoughts the past few months which was likely the reason for doing something like this, but he wasn't inept or out of luck. His SHIELD training with Coulson, Hill, and now Agents Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff had been going on for four months since his parents funeral so at least he wasn't completely helpless.

Will saw them walking out of the club and getting into a car to head to a meetup about a few blocks away. He followed at a safe distance and when they stopped he opened up the duffel bag in the passenger seat and pulled out a few things his dad had around the house and some goodies he got from his SHIELD training. A police baton, a taser, a smoke grenade, some fishing wire, and a small bundle of throwing knives. The latter were a gift from Clint Barton to use to train his accuracy so now they would be getting used for real.

In the alleyway, the abuser dad and four of his cronies got out of their car and met with the buyer and five of his goons. The abuser guy nodded to one of his men who dropped the duffel bag onto the ground. The buyer opened it up and pulled out a stuffed animal toy before using a pocket knife to cut it open and pull out a bag of drugs. "Pink?"

"The kids love pink." The abuser said with a chuckle when they heard the clank of a metal can rolling on the ground. They turned around and saw a garbage can rock forward like something bumped into it and the way it moved meant that something larger than a rat did it, so they took out their pistols just in case. All of them were on alert for any kind of additional movement as it could mean someone was watching them like noisy civilians or even cops.

"Anyone see anything?!"

"Nothing!" One of them said when he felt something on his leg, so he looked down and saw what looked like a wire wrap around his right leg. "What the—AHH!"

He leg was pulled out from under him, and he was violently yanked away while screaming when a smoke grenade rolled forward taking his place. The alleyway was soon filled with thick smoke obscuring vision and causing some of the bad guys to cough up a lung it was so bad. A few of them began to shoot blindly in the direction the smoke grenade came from as unbeknownst to them five throwing knives floated up into the air before they were flung forward. They imbedded themselves in the shooting hands of five shooters forcing them to drop their guns when Will rushed forward from the smoke. His face was obscured with his hoodie and a bandana wrapped around his face from the nose down.

He tripped one guy onto his back and broke his right leg like Romanoff showed him before grappling with bad guy #2 forcing the gun over his shoulder and causing him to accidentally fire at the others. This made them all duck before Will broke his wrist, grabbed the barrel of the pistol, and pulled the top slide off, jamming it in the neck of bad guy #3. He throat punched bad guy #2 he was still grappling with and threw him into the wall before dragging his face across the bricks, staining it with blood. He kicked bad guy #4 back before blocking a punch from #5 and hit him with a gut punch before landing a jumping back kick. He quickly ducked a gunshot which inadvertently hit bad guy #3 and roundhouse kicked the gun out of the hand of bad guy #4 before grabbing #5 by the neck and slamming him into the ground. He blocked a punch from bad guy #4 and stomped on his left ankle, breaking it when he saw bad guy #6 attack with a knife. He grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and stabbed bad guy #4 in the leg before punching #6 in the chest and then several times in the face as hard as possible causing blood to spurt out and stain the bandana facemask he had on. One final punch knocked the guy out and Will grabbed the knife in bad guy #4's leg before violently yanking it out and throwing it at bad guy #7, hitting him in the chest. He pulled out the police baton and went to work on bad guys #8 and #9, wailing on them all over the chest and face alongside punches and kicks. He took out #8 with a spinning back kick to the face while #9 got a sliding side kick to the chest and fell into some trashcans.

Bad guy #10 who also happened to be the abuser dad Will was after, scrambled back into the car and tried to start it up. Will walked over and smashed the driver's side window open before punching him in the side of the head by his ear, discombobulating him. He grabbed his arm that had the pistol and pulled it out of the car, knocked the gun to the ground before Will broke his arm at the elbow with a violent knee bash, then dragged the guy's face across the broken glass of the car door causing him to scream out in pain.

"You ever touch your wife or daughter again I'll find you and finish the fucking job!"

Will kneed him in the head before pulling him out of the car and began stomping on his chest. Will seemed to go into a blind rage that wasn't just about stopping the abuser as the recent trauma and loss of his parents and all that anger he was feeling didn't make him stop. He just kept going until he heard some police sirens in the distance. That took him out of his rage which is when he saw the damage he had done. His stomps had hit the man's face as well which was a bloody mess and he looked more dead than anything else. Will froze momentarily due to shock before he took off running, managing to make it back to his parents' truck. He sat there for a moment in shock as he was still reeling from what happened when he saw the blood that caked his hands. He reached into the glove compartment where he kept some napkins and began to vigorously wipe his hands not only to clean him physically but seemingly in an emotional attempt as well. His emotions reached a breaking point, and he broke down in the car, crying his eyes out as what he had just done and everything else hit him all at once.

That night was a pivotal point for Will going forward as it showed him the slippery slope he could go down if he didn't get control over himself. A lesson he would soon take to heart.

End flashback…

Will finished his drink as he finished recounting his story. "The guy ended up in a coma for months and when he did wake up he had to eat the rest of his meals through a straw and needed a cane to walk. Dozens of broken bones, skull fractures, internal bleeding, a collapsed lung, perforated liver, and brain swelling. The doctors said it was like an animal attacked him."

May and Coulson listened in stunned silence. Hearing all of that, from Will of all people really threw them for a loop. Will often carried himself, unintentionally in some cases, as the pinnacle of moral virtue, goodness, and the best a person could be and to hear the darkness he had experienced and what he had done was humbling to say the least.

"Fury and I noticed your therapy sessions picked up in the new year. I thought it was just a new year resolution." Coulson said.

"I hold onto what I did and every bad thing I do up here." Will tapped the side of his head. "I don't have the luxury of forgetting but I swore I would never let myself lose control like that again. And it's why I worked on controlling my telepathy and I don't read minds unless I have to."

"So, you don't hear or read the negative thoughts of others. You're afraid they'll push you too far." May said.

"I've got enough bad thoughts in my head as it is. Don't need everyone else's." Will snapped his fingers and refilled their drinks. "So, we all have bad marks in our past we'd like to forget or make up for. It's our burden to bare."

Will, May, and Coulson drank when Jack returned from the back with a case of alcohol but perched up on top were some grilled cheese sandwiches put on paper plates. "Don't know what brought you all here so early in the day but I won't pry. Still, if you're gonna drink here like this than you better have something in your belly." Jack placed down the grilled cheeses for them.

"Thanks, Jack." Will gave him some more money as he, Coulson, and May ate in silence. It was a nice reprieve from the drinking while Jack continued to get the bar ready but there would be more drinking later.

A lot of drinking.

Line Break xxxxx

It was around 6pm local time in Washington DC. Skye, Ward, and Fitz-Simmons had returned to the BUS after getting everything they needed. The BUS was refueled and all equipment onboard was fully restocked with some new additional gear and goodies picked up. After all of that was taken care of there wasn't much for the others to do but wait around. Around noon, Ward made a call to Coulson to ask for an update but when he got no answer he contacted the security desk to ask if Coulson, Will, and May were still in the meeting with Fury and Hill and if there was any kind of timeframe for when things would end. To his surprise, he was informed that Coulson, Will, and May had left the Triskelion hours ago in a SHIELD SUV. That meant they were somewhere out in the city and from what Ward was informed it didn't appear to be on a mission or for SHIELD, so it was likely personal reasons. With that new information there wasn't much they could do but wait until they returned.

Skye was pacing by the ramp in the cargo bay while some agents got on and off the BUS as they delivered equipment or finished up any maintenance needed. Fitz-Simmons were in the medical lab organizing and itemizing everything, while Ward finished putting away all the extra ammo and gear he requested from the specialists departments. That's when he noticed Skye pacing back and forth.

"You know, you could be doing something else with your time instead of pacing." Ward pointed out.

"I already upgraded all the systems on the BUS, and everything was put away." Skye told him. "Shouldn't they be back by now?"

"Skye, we don't know where they went in the first place so they could be out all day." Ward told her.

"And that doesn't worry you?" Skye asked him. "I mean if there was a mission they would have told us, right?"

"Yes, they would. I was told that they left after their meeting with Fury and headed out into the city. It's for personal reasons." Ward told her. "Will and May are with Coulson, so they'll be fine. Maybe they need to do something or whatever personal reason they need but they'll be back."

"Ward's right. And now that we know that Will is…" Simmons stopped herself there as there were some SHIELD agents walking by on their way out. "…a gifted SHIELD agent, they'll be fine."

"Simmons is right. I doubt there is anything bad that can happen to them with Will there. Maybe they just went to get something to drink?" Fitz suggested.

"That'd I'd believe. After everything Coulson's been through I could understand the need to get a drink. May's a drinker, that's for sure." Ward pointed out when he heard the squealing of car tires. "Guess we'll get some answers soon enough."

They gathered together and saw a SHIELD SUV drive into the SHIELD airstrip elegantly and effortlessly passing by other SHIELD vans and transports before pulling up the ramp into the BUS. The car parked and the engine shut off before Will got out holding three large brown bags which he handed to Fitz-Simmons. They were confused but picked up a delectable smell emanating from two of the bags. "What's in this?" Fitz asked.

"Picked up some dinner. One second…" Will walked around to the other side of his car and opened the passenger side. They saw him shuffle around a bit before he managed to drag Coulson and May out of the passenger side seats. May's hair was a bit messy, Coulson's tie was loosened, and his shirt was un-buttoned, and both reeked of alcohol. He leaned Coulson up against his car while he got May out, hefting her up on his left shoulder. He closed the door and then grabbed Coulson hefting him up on his right shoulder.

"Oh my god, Coulson!" Skye rushed over, thinking he was injured but the second she got within three feet she got hit with an overwhelmingly powerful scent of whiskey, beer, and vodka.

"Hi…Skye…" Coulson mumbled out in his drunk delirium. His face was very red, and he had some alcohol stains on his shirt along with some others, likely food. "You…you're…upside down…"

"What happened to them?" Simmons asked.

"Will took us…[burp]…he took us out drinking…and we had fun…so much fun…" Coulson said.

"They were…were some great people…" May added. She was equally red in the face and her hair was a mess. "We drank…we danced…we sang…so much fun…and we had hot dogs…so good…"

The others were in complete shock at what they were seeing. Coulson drunk was one thing, but May of all people was something they didn't ever thing was possible to see. The Calvary, Ms. Stone-Faced stoic was giggling and smiling like a drunk sorority girl at a party. "When these two got up on the bar and began dancing I thought it might be a good idea to get them back here…" Will told them.

"I still had a dollar of Bob Seger on the Jukebox!" May whined, slapping Will on the ass of all places. "WOO! That's a rock-hard butt!"

"Oh my god…" Skye muttered as she literally couldn't believe what she was seeing before her from two of the most professional and composed people she's ever met. She felt like she just entered the twilight zone or something.

"I'm gonna get these two to their bunks." Will said, carrying them up to the living quarters with a drunk May continuing to slap him on the rear to the point where Coulson joined in. He walked up the stairs to the living area with no problem despite the fact he was carrying to full-grown adults on his shoulders though he moved a little slower to ensure he didn't accidently move too quickly and swing their heads into the railing or a wall. Goose was lounging on a couch pillow when he saw Will walk by, so she perked her head up and meowed. "I'll get you dinner in a second, Goose. Just need to put these two down."

Goose nodded and placed her head back down before Will walked over to May's bunk. With his arms/shoulders occupied with Coulson's body, Will used his telekinesis to lift May off his shoulder and gently placed her on her bunk with her blanket wrapped snuggly around her. He also placed a garbage bin next to her bed in case she had to throw up before closing the door to her bunk and taking Coulson to his.

"Oohh…" Coulson groaned as Will removed him from his shoulder and placed him on his bunk. Will then pulled off Coulson's shoes and placed them on the floor along with his jacket and tie. "Today was fun…"

"Yeah. Who knew day drinking with a bunch of rowdy veterans and alcoholics could do the mind good." Will joked, putting Coulson's clothing off to the side. "Well for now because tomorrow you're gonna wake up with a hell of a hangover."

"Mmm…it'll be worth it…" Coulson hummed as Will pulled him up and helped him into his bed. "You're a good kid, Will."

"[Chuckles] I haven't been a kid in a long time, Coulson." Will told him.

"I know…and I still feel bad for that." Coulson admitted. "Do you secretly hate SHIELD? Hate me?"

"Why would you ask that?" Will wondered.

"Before us…you had a normal life. If it wasn't for us…you'd have a regular job…a regular life…not doing what we do…you ever think about it?" Coulson asked him.

"Honestly…not really." He admitted. "Looking back now, if SHIELD hadn't found me than I still think that my life wouldn't have been able to return to normal. If anything, it would have gotten harder. With that meteor and my powers, going back to college and then getting a regular 9-5 job wouldn't mean that things would be normal for me. I'd still have my powers but nowhere near any help in controlling them and sooner or later I'd be on the radar of SHIELD or some other group. Hell, it could have been AIM coming after me or even Centipede. The Chitauri still would have invaded, same with the Dark Elves, AIM would still be a thing…but SHIELD would have had a much tougher time dealing with all of that without me."

"True…true…" Coulson agreed when his mood suddenly got sullen and serious. "But your parents…I'm so sorry, Will…they got killed because of us…they didn't deserve that…"

"I know…" Will patted him on the arm. While Will still believed even if SHIELD hadn't found him years ago that his life wouldn't be normal, there was a part of him that wondered if his adoptive parents would still be alive. To this day, one of the greatest mysterious Will hasn't solved was about the day his parents died. He was taken to the SHIELD building in NY to get tested and Fury offered him to join SHIELD and the Avengers. He hadn't made his decision yet and Fury gave him some time to think about it but as they were leaving they were attacked by a group of mercenaries. Will's parents were killed in the crossfire, and they tried to kill him, but they didn't succeed. All the mercenaries ended up dead, but SHIELD was never able to confirm if Fury was the target of it was Will, to keep SHIELD from gaining a potentially powerful enhanced individual. The mercenaries were pros with their identities scrubbed and no trace to whoever could have orchestrated that attack. Will had a feeling that if he was the target than whoever was behind the attack would have tried again but nothing. Still, one mystery he had no answers to. "But that wasn't your fault, Coulson and don't ever think it is."

Coulson smiled at Will before reaching up a hand and patting him on the cheek. "You're a good person, Will. Really good. You've had my back through a lot."

"Always, Coulson. Always." Will promised and Coulson leaned into the bed, getting comfortable.

"It may not mean a lot coming from me…but any dad would be lucky to call you a son. Your dad was a lucky man." Coulson told him before drifting off to sleep.

Will smiled, pulling the blanket up over Coulson and placing the garbage bin next to his bed before leaving him to his sleep. He walked to the kitchen where he saw Ward, Skye, and Fitz-Simmons waiting for him. "Here. Let me take those." Will took the bags and placed them on the kitchen table before unpacking. One of the three bags had groceries which he quickly put away while the other two had some food containers which he placed on the table. "Goose, dinner."

Goose trotted over and jumped up onto the table next to everyone as Will got him a small plate. He opened up one container containing some delicious smelling crab cakes and placed them on Goose plate which she began to eat with gusto. "Is that safe for her to eat?" Simmons wondered.

"Don't worry about Goose. She'll be fine." Will assured her, taking out some more containers which had more crab cakes and other seafood. "Don't worry. I got more."

"It smells delicious." Fitz said as Will placed some newspaper on the table and opened up the bag to reveal steamed and seasoned blue crabs.

"And they taste even better. November is blue crab season, so we got lucky. And I got more crab cakes plus some Chili half-smokes." Will told them.

"Chili what?" Fitz-Simmons asked.

"Half-smokes. Pork and beef sausage which is a staple of the area. Think of them as hotdogs but way better served on a bun with onions and chili sauce." Will opened up the container holding several hot and steamy chili half-smokes. "Whenever I was called to the Triskelion I would always go out to get these. They may not look like much but they're good."

Will got some more utensils and plates for everyone along with beers from the fridge before grabbing one chili half-smoke and taking a bite. He relished the taste and was going to take another bite when he saw the others looking at him. He saw Goose was diligently eating his food and he turned around in case someone was there but there wasn't, so it was just him. "What?"

"What? That's all you have to say?" Skye asked him.

"That was short for what do you want." He informed her. "What?"

"How can you just sit there so blasé about everything that's happened the last 48 hours?" Skye asked him.

"Oh, that." He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. "All right. Go ahead. Ask your questions."

"First off…what happened with May and Coulson?" Ward asked him.

"After our meeting with Fury was over Coulson needed something to take his mind of things so I took him to bar I know. May came with us, we talked, we drank, we ate some food, we drank and talked some more, and they had a good time as you can see though they're gonna have massive hangovers tomorrow morning." Will answered. "Which reminds me I should probably get to work on something for them."

Will got up and began taking out the groceries he put in the refrigerator. Cartons of beef stock, onions, and spices he got from an Asian supermarket he placed on the kitchen counter along with a large pot he put some water in. He took out some onions and grabbed a knife when he realized it was just him and the others and now that he knew he didn't need to hide he put the knife back and used his telekinesis. The onions and radishes he bought peeled and skinned themselves much to everyone's amazement as the bags of spices he bought opened up and they all floated over one of the burners which he turned on to get a char on them before being put into the pot.

"Ok…that is awesome." Skye stated.

"Yeah, it comes in handy." Will admitted. "Hangover soup for them tomorrow. Trick a family friend told me about."

"Why aren't you as drunk as Coulson and May? Were you their designated driver?" Skye wondered.

"Oh no, I probably drank as much if not more than they did but I can't get drunk. Fringe benefit." Will filled the pot up with water and stock before putting it to simmer and adding in some other ingredients like sugar, fish sauce and the roasted spices. "Which is likely what you guys want to talk about. Fury and Hill are going to be calling you in soon and swearing you all the secrecy under penalty of likely death so go ahead. Start asking your questions."

"Are you Asgardian?"

"Are you an alien?"

"How did you get your powers?"

"How much can you lift?"

"Stop!" Will stopped all of them then and there because they were speaking over one another. "Let's try that again but one at a time. We'll go in order. Skye, you first."

"Are you an alien?" She asked him.

"Yup. I'm the last of my kind sent away from my dying planet by my scientist father to earth to help lead humanity to a better tomorrow. And my real name is Clark." Will answered much to the displeasure of others.

"Was that really necessary?" Simmons asked him.

"For comedic purposes? Yes. Besides, I thought that the British love sarcasm." Will pointed out, adding in some more ingredients to the soup base he was making.

"It's irony we love, not sarcasm. There's a difference." Fitz corrected him.

"Fair enough. And no, I didn't crash land on this planet and I'm not an alien, not exactly. Ward can vouch as he has a high enough clearance level to know. My birthparents are human and so was I until the incident that gave me my powers." Will explained.

"So, are you or are you not? I'm confused." Skye admitted.

"I'll admit it's confusing, but I can't say any more than that. What I can say is that I am from this planet." Will told her. "Simmons, you're up next."

"How did you get your powers because all of SHIELD studies have proven inconclusive in the theorization that could result in someone being granted any kind of telekinetic or psychic abilities?" Simmons asked him, barely containing her scientific curiosity which Fitz was likely to add on to.

Seeing as how these questions were likely to take a while, he gestured for everyone to take a seat and start eating, which they did. Will snapped his fingers which make all the caps on the beer bottles pop off before floating over to the garbage. "Awesome…" Fitz muttered.

"Well, I wasn't the result of a super soldier serum or lab accident. Kind of in the wrong place at the wrong time to be honest. A few years ago, I was just a normal double major at NYU in my junior year. It was spring break, went out to a party with some friends in Atlantic City, stepped away to catch a breather and the next thing I know a meteor crashes down next to me. Being the inquisitive idiot I was back then I got too close and when I touched the meteor I pricked my finger on it. The second my blood touched it, it began glowing blue and pulsated like it was alive. Next thing I know my head is ringing like church bells and the energy from the meteor flew into me. Eventually the pain to my head got to be too much and I passed out. My friends woke me up a few hours later and it wasn't until the next day that my powers began to manifest." Will explained.

"What kind of meteor was it? How would you describe its appearance? You said it glowed blue so did it have exothermic properties? Perhaps it was crystalline in structure? Or better yet it might have some kind of energy source if you said the energy flowed from the meteor into you. Any chance I can get a DNA sample or perhaps look at a sample of the meteor?" Simmons had let off a flurry of questions at a rapid pace which was indicative of her over-eager scientific curiosity which she shared with Fitz. He likely would have listed off some questions too if they weren't going one at a time.

"In order, I can't tell you, it looked like a glowing space rock, it wasn't hot but cool to the touch, not crystalline in structure, not sure if it had an energy source inside it, no you can't get a DNA sample and there's no sample of the meteor because it was gone when I woke up." Will told her.

"Gone? It was just gone?" Simmons wondered.

"I wouldn't know until later when I did a deep dive into my memories that night, but I caught a glimpse of what happened. The meteor turned to dust after whatever it did to me." He replied, partially lying but technically telling the truth. "I'm one of a kind. Fitz, you're up."

"Ok. Just so we know, what exactly are your powers?" Fitz asked him and Will held up three fingers.

"Threefold: super soldier-like physique, telepathy, and telekinesis." Will extended all five fingers and the others watched as the steamed blue crabs were levitated into the air before their shells shattered. They watched in awe as the fragments of shells swirled through the air and dumped themselves into the trash while all the meat was picked off by Will's telekinesis and placed back down onto the plates for everyone to eat.

"Thanks." Skye told him, using her fork to take a bite which was so much easier and hassle free now.

"You're welcome. I'll admit, it takes some fun out of eating it, but this ability comes in handy. Being able to move and control objects with just one thought makes a lot of problems non-existent but it wasn't always like that. When I first got my powers the most I could move was a baseball. I tried to move a lawn chair about an inch off the ground before my head started to hurt and my nose began to bleed. Eventually with more time I got better and stronger with it and it ended up paying off." Will said and they were confused by what he just said. "I went to the Stark Expo where those Hammer Drones went on a rampage and used my powers to help out. I put a makeshift mask over my head and helped out where I could. Took out a few of those drones, saved some civilians, and helped stop Ivan Vanko. It was shortly after that I ended up on SHIELD's radar and they recruited me soon after."

"I knew it." Skye said and they looked at her. "I recovered footage from the attack at the expo and saw footage of someone destroying a drone with his hand. I knew it had to be Aegis of the Avengers because he could do the exact thing. So, it was after that you joined SHIELD?"

"Forgoing some stuff that I'll keep to myself, pretty much. Coulson was the one tasked to approach me along with Fury and they trained me. I was one of the strongest people on the Index list at that point so they wanted to make sure my powers weren't a threat, and I could control them. Safe to say that I did, and boy was Fury glad when the Chitauri invaded. From barely being able to move a baseball to now where I think I could crush the plane without breaking a sweat." Will admitted which made the others curious while a little nervous.

"Just how does your telekinesis work?" Fitz asked a follow-up question.

"From what the SHIELD scientists were able to tell me when they ran their tests, all the parts of my brain show increased hyperactivity and control greater than any human in recorded history. It's this level of hyperactivity and energy they think that allows me to control things with my mind. Like any muscle, the more I trained the stronger my brain got." Will answered. "Ward, your question?"

"You mentioned telepathy? That's the ability to read minds, right?" Ward asked and Will nodded. "Have you read our minds?"

"Only once." Will gestured to Skye. "When you got a little squirrely after the Rising Tide connection to Chan Ho Yin's abduction. I just did a quick mind read to know that you knew more than you were saying and it's why I followed you when we got to Texas. As a personal code and rule, I don't use my telepathy unless I need to. I've had some bad experiences with my telepathy when I first got my powers."

"Really? I figured that being a spy, being able to read a person's mind would be like the ultimate tool to have in your belt." Skye pointed out.

"If you could perfectly control it, sure but when I first started the telekinesis was easier to get control of than the telepathy. With my telekinesis, I could barely lift a ball, but I had control over what I could move." Will started and they could see where this was going.

"But with your telepathy it wasn't that easy." Ward finished and Will nodded.

"When it started I began hearing the thoughts of everyone nearby. It would flare up from time to time and after my parents death…it got worse. Training how you can read the minds of others isn't exactly easy when SHIELD didn't have anyone who could teach me. It was trial and error. It reached a breaking point for me, and it led me down a dark path. It was then and there that I made a promise to myself to control my telepathy before it could control me. After a little more time training I finally managed to get control over it and with that control came personal responsibility. I don't ever use it unless I need to on a mission." The way Will spoke evoked real emotion and he was being honest. From how he spoke, it was clear to the others that whatever happened deeply affected him.

"You expect us to believe that you don't use your telepathy unless you have to?" Ward asked him.

"Believe me or not, it's up to you but it's the truth. And telepathy like my telekinesis is a conscious effort on my part. I have to think in order to do it. It's not like I'm always reading the thoughts of the people in my immediate area, it takes a conscious thought process to do that and even at its most basic it's just to read the immediate thoughts of a person. To learn more like digging through the memories and inner mind of someone would take concentration and you'd have a visual que for that as well. My eyes would be glowing blue if that ever happened. Any serious concentration or effort for my powers cause a blue-colored aura to appear. Like this…" Will took a few steps back and soon enough his eyes began glowing blue before a shield of his psychic blue aura appeared around him. "…see?"

"Whoa…" Skye walked over and slowly reached her hand out, touching the blue shield. "What is this?"

"Telekinetic shield. Kind of self-explanatory." Will pointed out.

"Fascinating…" Simmons walked over like a biologist studying a new sample for a project. To say she was intrigued was an understatement. "I would love to run some tests pertaining to your abilities."

"Not my call to make. And Ward, it's true. If you need someone to vouch for me pertaining to my use of my telepathy than talk to Coulson tomorrow." Will told him. "Skye, you're back up. You're next question?"

"Which came first? Will the SHIELD agent or Aegis of the Avengers?" Skye wondered and the others were curious too.

"Technically both." Will thought it over and the answer seemed right. "Fury was working up the Avengers initiative when I was recruited, and I joined SHIELD as a prospective member so technically both. It would have been a thing had the World Security Council not killed it so when Loki and the Chitauri came about Director Fury knew he could count on me. Now it's its own thing which is good because considering what the World Security Council tried to do, Fury is ok with the Avengers being on the side in case something bad happened and SHIELD couldn't do something. Simmons, you're up."

"What exactly are the limits of your telekinesis? Could you lift up a car all the way in Los Angeles right now?" Simmons asked him.

"No." Will said and her enthusiasm deflated instantly. "My telekinesis is powerful as is my telepathy, but it has limits. For one thing, range. With my telepathy and telekinesis, I have something I dub Telekinetic sense. Basically, using my powers I'm able to scan and sense an area thus producing a detailed map of it in my head."

"Like echolocation?" Simmons questioned.

"Similar, yes but instead of sound waves mapping an area it's my powers. It's the same principal though as I'm able to get detailed information about my surroundings. Buildings, vehicles, people, weapons, etc. I've used it to detect traps and ambushes before they catch me off guard and I've even used it to deal with dark or unfamiliar areas. When I first started using the ability I had a limited range of about half a mile. Now, I can sense anything up to ten-miles away. Anything further away would require more concentration and be unreliable." He answered and Simmons listened intently.

"And with more training you can most likely increase the range along with the strength of your powers. It's truly fascinating and your brain shows no adverse effects or damage from your powers?" Simmons wondered.

"Not that I'm aware of and I get it checked it out every now and then. I've had plenty of brain scans done by Dr. Banner at Avengers tower." Will then raised his hand to stop Skye before she could ask. "Yes, there's a chance you guys could meet Tony and Bruce in the future."

"Read my mind?" Skye wondered.

"No. I saw that question coming from a mile away." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I could see that coming too." Ward admitted.

"We all did." Fitz-Simmons agreed.

"Follow up, question…" Simmons spoke up. "…are you sure you don't have any other powers? I've seen some of the footage from the Chitauri invasion and it seemed like you were doing more than just telekinesis."

"It's still telekinesis just used in different ways which I've learned to do over the years of practice, training, and real-world application. As you saw my telekinetic shield is one such example and a more offensive minded one is using my telekinetic energy to create an energy blast…" Will aimed his right index finger at the empty crab cake container and they saw his finger glow blue before firing a small blue beam of energy. It blasted through the container making a small, smoldering hole. "If it seems like I have new powers, I don't. I've just learned to use my telekinesis in new ways. Case in point."

Will poured himself a cup of water and placed it on the table. The others saw him giving it a focused and attentive look, much more so than if he was just going to levitate or float the water out of the cup. They saw his eyes glowing blue like before so they wondered what would happen when they saw the air around the cup begin to get cold before it and the water were suddenly frozen solid. Literally, one minute it was a regular cup of water and the next it was a frozen cup of ice. It was so cold they saw the air around the ice cool and the water vapor in the air condense into a fog.

"Whoa…how did you do that?" Skye asked him.

"Something of a new ability of mine dubbed molecular manipulation. As I got better control over my powers I learned to use them in new ways and my fine tune control of them got better. To the point where I could sense the molecular movements of an object and with my telekinesis, focus on those molecules and manipulate them like I could anything else with my telekinesis." Will explained.

"In this case forcing the molecules in the water to stop moving all together. All the molecular motion ceased and in turn you put the water in a state of Absolute zero, instantly freezing the water into ice. Remarkable…" Simmons looked at the ice in awe with what she just saw. "And you can do this now?"

"I can but it's incredibly complicated and requires more concentration than regular telekinesis. I'm still fine tuning it. Some of them are easier than others. For example, if the opposite were to occur…" Will's eyes glowed blue yet again and the ice violently shook before it turned into a huge pocket of steam that washed over everyone.

"You ignited the ice into steam by vibrating the molecules and heating them up." Fitz deduced and Will gave him a thumbs up.

"Making fire. I've also got wind manipulation, earth, and my personal favorite…" Will held up his hand and concentrated, making small flickers of blue lightning course around his hand like he was an evil Sith lord from Star Wars. "Lightning."

"Ok, how does that last one work?" Ward asked.

"Will must be using his telekinesis to manipulate ionized gas molecules in the air to build up a static charge which he then controls. And it'd be more accurate to call it Plasma and not lightning as what Will is doing is not very different from a plasma globe only he can do it with his mind. Fascinating…" Simmons said in amazement. "The wonders of your powers is that on principle and paper, they don't seem to have any limits."

"Not that I've seen. All it takes is time and a new way to look at things. The elemental manipulation came more recently. Before that, I learned something new. For example, now you see me…" Will suddenly popped out of view, and he was gone. "…now you don't."

"What the…" Skye, Fitz-Simmons, and Ward did double-takes and looked around as Will had suddenly disappeared from view. A few more seconds passed, and he reappeared before them.

"Invisibility. Folded the light around my body with my powers." Will told them.

"No light hitting your body mean you can't be seen but also means you couldn't see." Simmons pointed out when she realized the answer. "Which is where you could use your telekinetic sense to guide you. Remarkable. I would love to study you…"

"You and every other SHIELD scientists. You'll have to get through Director Fury for that." Will said before the took a bite of his chili half-smoke. "Fitz, you're up."

"Did SHIELD make your suit? If so, I would love to see it." Fitz said to him. Will held his hand out towards his bunk. The door opened and came his Aegis suit on display next to him like it was set up on a mannequin only it was floating in the air. Fitz got up and began touching the suit with his hands to get a tactile feel for it. "Awesome…"

"Yeah, I love it but not SHIELD. Curtsey of Tony Stark." Will told him. "It pays off to have good friends in high places with a billion-dollar company."

Simmons joined Fitz and even Skye and Ward got up to check out the suit. "Why the hood? Seems kind of impractical and with the mask your face is already covered." Skye pointed out.

"More of a personal choice and I like it." Will told her. "The mask comes equipped with a recyclable air supply that lasts an hour and its own HUD with a variety of different vision modes and all of it is tied to EDI so she can feed me any intel I need. The suit is also airtight and pressurized to handle deep sea temperatures and certain atmospheric conditions. Tony's still working on it being ok in the vacuum of space."

"What kind of material is this? I'm not familiar with it." Fitz said.

"It's a polymer blend mix with a metal weave of Vibranium and Carbonadium. Maximum protection without sacrificing movement or an increase in weight. Completely tear resistant and bulletproof." Will answered.

"This is made of Vibranium? Where did you get it?" Fitz asked him. Any SHIELD engineer would love a chance to work with Vibranium, but it was incredibly rare with Captain America's shield being the only known use for it. SHIELD and scientists since the 40s have had to make do with Proto-Vibranium alloys they've concocted in labs that are incredibly strong but nothing like the original.

"Happened upon it by accident. Kept some from myself but returned the rest."

"Returned the rest to who?" Ward asked.

"Sorry, can't say." Will told him when he saw Simmons remove a silver disk from his belt. "Simmons. Do not move."

"What's wrong?" She asked as Will took the silver disk from her hand. He flicked it once and six incredible sharp, long blades extended out from the disk like fan blades. It was one of the Yautja shurikens he took as a souvenir during that whole alien pyramid fiasco in the Artic. "Good lord."

"Yeah. This thing will cut through a human body like its nothing. Comes in handy though." Will flicked it again and the blades retracted back into the shuriken, so it looked like a regular silver disk.

"Did Tony Stark make that for you too?" Skye wondered.

"No. This was a souvenir taken after I fought some aliens in the artic." He said and they went wide-eyed. "I'm gonna have to explain all that now, aren't I?"

"Yup."

"All right." He sent his suit back to his bunk and sat down with the others where he began telling them stories about some of his past missions and adventures. In some instances, he would need to adjust the details or omit certain things, but it was informative with them asking more questions about him and he answered as best he could.

The next morning/early afternoon…

Around 11am, Coulson began to wake up from his alcohol fueled sleep stupor after a long morning, afternoon, and early evening of drinking. Coulson had drunk plenty of times but never to the extent of yesterday. Yesterday was the equivalent of the kind of drinking a newly turned 21-year-old would do or an Amish teenager would do on their Rumspringa: Excessive and leads to a horrible hangover the next morning. Which Coulson was suffering from as his head felt like it weighed a ton with an equally sized headache, his mouth was dry, he felt the urge to throw up getting stronger and it was so bad he thinks death would be more preferable.

Coulson managed to tough through the intense pain in his head that made it feel like someone took a red-hot poker to his cerebellum and opened his eyes. There on his nightstand he saw a bottle of regular water and a bottle of coconut water next to some pills, likely Tylenol with a post-it note. It read: the pills and water will help. Once you feel ready, come to the kitchen as I have something else that should help.

And what came next was the longest thirty-three minutes of Coulson's life as he struggled with his greatest challenge to date that rivaled being killed by Loki: overcoming a hangover to get dressed.

After those long thirty-three minutes that involved Coulson sluggishly getting out of bed and trying to change clothes without puking which didn't work but thankfully the garbage bin was nearby, so he threw up into that instead of on himself. He emerged from his bunk wearing some athletic sweats after guzzling down the water and the Tylenol with the coconut water in his hands. Instead of going to the kitchen he headed to the bathroom first to wash his face and brush his teeth as he did throw up. That took about 20 more minutes as he was still dealing with the hangover, praying for the nightmare to end, and slowly walked through the living quarters of the BUS. His mind was still in a fog and hurt like hell as he sluggishly made his way to the kitchen where his nose picked up the delectable smell of something delicious. It was there he saw Will in the kitchen cooking over some pots on burners while May sat at the counter behind him. She was wearing athletic sweats and had her head down on her arms laid out on the kitchen island with a bottle of coconut water next to her.

Skye, Ward, and Fitz-Simmons were sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and chatting when they saw Coulson enter and they were taken back. For one thing, the sweat shirt, and pants he had on it gave him the same disheveled look as a hungover frat boy. And the other was that they had never seen Coulson like this. It was jarring.

"Sir, are you ok?" Ward asked him.

"Ask me that again tomorrow." Coulson walked over to the kitchen island as Will used his powers to move the chair out so he could sit down and then gently moved it back into position. Coulson took a sip of his coconut water before giving Will a glare. "I have never envied your ability to not get drunk more than now."

"I know. Comes in handy. I can't make it go away, but I might be able to do something to lessen the pain." Will offered and Coulson got a glimmer of hope. "Granted, I've never really done this before, but I could use my powers to help lessen the strain your brain is going through."

"Really? How would that work?" Skye wondered.

"Well, with my powers I've gained a great understanding and knowledge about the human brain that I could probably write dozens of medical journals to give the world more information than they've had in years. Anyway, with my telepathy I can and have wreaked havoc on a person's mind, bad guys, I promise, but I can use my powers to heal. I haven't really practiced it as much, but I can use small amounts of the psychic energy I have to revitalize and energize certain neurons and parts of the brain. In this case with a hangover, alcohol is a diuretic, so it causes you to become dehydrated which is basically what's happened. The brain has shrunk in volume and is causing all the nasty hangover symptoms because of the disruption to the brains neurons and neural pathways. Ultimately time is going to be the best thing that gets things back in proper working order, but I could use my powers to alleviate the strain on those pathways and get them—"

"Just do it…" May groaned in annoyance and pain.

"Right, sorry." Will quickly place his index fingers on Coulson and May's foreheads.

"Wait! Wait for me for one second! I'll be right back!" Simmons got up and ran as fast as she could leaving everyone confused as to why she left and where she went in such a hurry. A few moments passed and Simmons returned carrying a case she took from the med lab. She quickly opened it and took out a small device and walked over to Coulson. "Apologies for asking this, sir but would you mind if I placed some nodes on your head so I could take some scans and see what Will does?"

Now it made sense to everyone. Simmons wanted data and information on what Will was going to do, which was basically the opportunity of a lifetime. Typical Simmons.

"I feel so bad right now I just want this hangover to be over. Do it." Coulson told her and she smiled, carefully placing some nodes onto his forehead and synched them to her scanner. The readings it gave her showed that Coulson's brain was under the typical stress indicative of a hangover. Simmons gave Will a thumbs up so he could do what he needed to do. He closed his eyes and concentrated letting him synch up with Coulson and May's brains. Skye, Fitz-Simmons, and Ward watched as Will began to glow with a blue aura like they saw before and that same blue aura flow over to Coulson and May. He used that energy to help ease the flow of neurons and revitalize the dehydrated parts of the brain. It was slow but Coulson and May could feel the intense headaches and heaviness in their heads ease up.

Will's telepathic surgery was an ability he hadn't really had situations to really practice with given how dangerous it was. He could easily screw with or damage a brain easily enough but fixing it was more complicated and it wasn't exactly something he could practice as practice with this ability came with a steep learning curve and the risk that he could accidently cause irreversible brain damage. If he really wanted to practice it would require a brain to practice on which was unethical and dangerous. Thankfully, Dr. Banner and Jarvis had been instrumental in helping him with it so far with comprehensive analysis of the human brain and plenty of medical texts for him to read in his spare time. He had a comprehensive knowledge of the brain, its areas and with his powers he could know more, which means with enough time and practice he could help deal with complex brain illnesses and injuries. That was the hope, and he wouldn't mind being able to help people suffering from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even brain tumors but that would still take some time and practice. In the meantime, he could do very basic stuff like helping Coulson and May with their hangovers.

After about fifteen seconds, Will stopped glowing and removed his fingers from Coulson and May. They opened their eyes and seemingly perked up. While their appearance didn't seem to change at all, their behavior indicated that they weren't experiencing as much pain or lethargies as before. May had her head up now and both she and Coulson didn't look as dead as before. "The scans indicate improved neuron activity. How do you two feel?" Simmons asked them.

"Honestly…a lot better." May admitted.

"Coulson?" Skye called out to him.

"I'm all right. My head doesn't feel as heavy as before and I don't feel like I'll throw up if I move too quickly. Thanks, Will." Coulson said to him.

"You're welcome but in reality I didn't take away your hangover. I just helped ease up the impact on your brain, so you'll still need to take the time to recover but with what I did it'll be easier. Here. Eat this. It'll help too." Will placed down two large bowls of a delicious smelling soup broth and submerged were a bundle of rice noodles, some pieces of beef and shrimp and topped with cilantro, onions, Thai basil, beansprouts, and jalapenos.

"Pho?" Coulson asked and Will nodded.

"One of the best foods for a hangover. Packed with healing spices like coriander and star anise, radish and onion give the broth body along with an enticing aroma and it'll give you a sodium and protein intake which you need after a hangover. Not only that, but it'll also help replenish nutrients and your energy levels and the spices and herbs help stimulate the senses and help with the nausea. Bean sprouts are good for your health and the jalapenos will wake you up. It's not only delicious but it's good for you. I originally thought a bowl of menudo would be better, but it would take too long for me to prepare so here we are." Will handed Coulson and May a spoon and some chopsticks. "Eat."

Both May and Coulson took a sip of the soup and moaned in delight before they began eating. Will then filled up the other bowls with the same and used his powers to levitate them towards the others. "Thanks. Where'd you learn to make this?" Skye wondered.

"A friend of my dad's. His mother was Vietnamese, and the recipe is hers so it's about as authentic as you can get. This, some more rest, plenty of fluids, and time and by tomorrow you'll be fine." Will said as he sipped his cup of coffee. "I think we can chalk up what happened yesterday because of the circumstances and like many events highly fueled by alcohol it'll probably be best for everyone that what happened never be spoken about again."

"Agreed." May and Coulson said at the same time.

"Really because I would like to…" Skye stopped when she saw Coulson and May turn to give her a look. "…say that I agree with that and it's none of my business. Just glad you're both feeling better."

"Smart thing to say." Will said when he felt his phone buzz, so he checked and got a text. "Well, the fun doesn't stop. Ward, Skye, Fitz-Simmons, you four might want to eat quickly and look your best. Director Fury wants to see you as soon as possible. Deputy Director Hill will come to pick you up. Better hurry."

"Damn."

Ward and Fitz-Simmons guzzled their food down and quickly left to get changed with Skye lagging behind, bringing her bowl with her to her bunk. "I'll handle things here so you two can rest up." Will said to May and Coulson.

"Thanks." Coulson replied and now that they were alone, May gave him a look.

"Look, Will…about what happened…"

"Like I said before, May, we can chalk it up to a day of heavy drinking and never speak of what happened again. I promise." Will assured her before internally smirking while thinking. "Although I'm certainly never going to let either of you forget it."

"Thanks." May got back to her food as did Coulson while Will just sipped his coffee. The three would keep the secret of what happened during their day of drinking to themselves and never tell another soul again because a lot did happen. What happened exactly? Again, they'd never tell another soul, but Will ended up sending Jack a lot of money for cleanup and some damages done to the bar. Nothing serious but just enough to help put things back in order plus they put a serious dent in his supply of alcohol.

As for what May wanted to never be spoken about again, well let's just say that when she gets drunk which is never, she gets affectionate. Very affectionate.

And we'll leave it at that.

Line Break xxxxx

The BUS

After a few more days of rest and recovery at the Triskelion, which included Skye and the others being sworn to secrecy by Fury regarding Will's powers and secret identity, Coulson's team was given a new assignment. A SHIELD Cadet at the SHIELD Science and Technology academy was nearly killed in a pool that froze solid in a matter of seconds. SHIELD agents managed to find what caused the pool to freeze so now they were on their way to handling the incident, mainly due to the expertise of Fitz-Simmons. Coulson was in his office having not really left or interacted with the Team after he recovered from his hangover. May and Will were in the cockpit while Skye, Fitz-Simmons, and Ward were in the kitchen.

"There is nothing more unsettling than being a part of something so horrible. Completely unaware. The cadet could've died." Simmons said.

"We drew up those concepts years ago. We didn't know they'd be applied in that way." Fitz assured her as Skye looked at the picture of the device on Ward's tablet.

"Is this the device they found in the frozen pool? Correction, the instantly frozen indoor pool?" Skye asked.

"Seems like it was planted in the filter days before. Like someone was waiting for those specific cadets." Ward suggested.

"Well, as far as they can tell, the device uses a crystalline nucleation process she designed."

"And a delivery mechanism he invented. That's why we're being asked to consult on the investigation."

"So, we're going to the academy?" Skye asked.

"Science and Technology Division." Ward told her. "Cadets are pretty shaken over what happened. Agent Weaver asked if you two could speak to the student body about potentiality. Calm them down."

"Yes, of course. The talk. We've all heard the talk." Simmons muttered.

"I haven't." Skye pointed out.

"Guess you will."

"Well, I've heard a lot about the academy. I'm excited to finally see it."

"Me too. Never been to Sci-Tech before." Ward said.

"Never? Huh. The different SHIELD academies don't interact?" Skye wondered.

"Not much. Academy of Communications does but they're the biggest and focus on data analysis." Ward told her.

"Boring."

"By far the easiest to get into."

"That's where you'd be Skye." Fitz told her.

"Thanks."

"Operations is the most aggressive program. More people wash out of Operations than the other Academies." Ward told her.

"So, which one is the hardest to get into it?" Skye asked and Simmons' smirk was all she needed for her answer which is when she saw Will walk by. "I'm picking up the rivalry between Sciences and Operations. Will, you said you never went to the Academy but you're technically batting for Team Operations. You gonna help Ward steal their mascot?"

"I'm not going. After we drop you four off, Coulson, May, and I have something we need to do." Will told them before he walked away.

"What thing?" She asked but didn't get an answer leaving Skye and the others a little worried. "Coulson hasn't come out of his office in a while. Do you think he's all right?"

"We saw him at a low. That's not easy for anybody. Coulson's as tough as they come. He'll be good. Just give him some time. And while he takes that time it's on us to figure out what's going on at the Academy." Ward told them and they nodded but Skye was still worried.

After dropping off Skye, Ward, and Fitz-Simmons at the SHIELD Academy for Science and Technology, Will gave May some new coordinates. She put the plane on autopilot before joining Will as he wanted them to talk to Coulson. They walked into his office and saw him reading over the file Fury gave him for the hundredth time. "Reading that a million times isn't going to change anything, Coulson." Will told him.

"He's right. You have to put it away." May added.

"How can I? You two read it." Coulson said.

"And you haven't stopped reading it." May reminded him.

"I just can't get my head around it. I remember what happened, the pain, but I also remember Tahiti. The feeling of the sun on my face, the relaxing time on the beach…but it never happened." Coulson said.

"The mind makes it real." Will said, quoting Morpheus from the Matrix. "The things it can do and make you believe are real isn't a joke. People suffer from mental illness are a prime example that makes that all too true and it can frighten even the most resilient of agents. I know that better than anyone."

"Yeah, but you would never do something like this. What I've done." Coulson told him.

"Just because I haven't doesn't mean I didn't think about it or was tempted." Will admitted. "Ignorance is bliss happens to be something that's all too true, Coulson. Sometimes it easier to just hide away from the pain for some."

"I think there's still a part of me that wants to remember the fake memories. The beach, the drinks, the calmness…is that weird?" Coulson wondered.

"No. I think anyone in your position would think the same." May told him.

"I agree with May. Classic red pill/blue pill scenario. Some choose the blue pill because they're not ready to face the truth and that's how it was for you before but when the time came you chose to take the red pill." Will added.

"Are you going to continue quoting the Matrix in this situation?" Coulson asked him and got a shrug in response.

"I'm just saying, give it some time. Whatever Project Tahiti did to you and what those scientists did with your head you are still you. I would tell you if there was something wrong with you. May and I would and there's not." Will told him and Coulson closed the file before putting it to the side.

"[Sighs] You wanna tell me why we're flying to Mexico City?" Coulson questioned.

"To give you something to focus on other than your resurrection and remind you of some of the good we do. I've been doing some digging into Skye's past and found something about the agent who dropped her off at the orphanage." Will answered.

"Agent Avery. She was killed." Coulson remembered.

"But her partner wasn't. He's declared MIA and our best bet to figure out exactly what happened." Will handed him and May a tablet with the agent's information.

"Richard Lumley."

"Went into hiding 23 years ago starting the day after Agent Avery was killed." Will told them.

"Did he resurface?" May wondered.

"Not by choice but EDI managed to find him. A few days ago, a teenager in Mexico posted a selfie on his Facebook page and managed to catch Agent Lumley leaving a grocery store in the background." He explained.

"If he's good enough to avoid SHIELD all these years, he'll know." Coulson suggested and Will nodded in agreement. "He may have killed Agent Avery.

"Or he wanted to avoid the same fate. We have a short window to catch him before he goes back underground but if we find him than we find out the truth." Will said. "We touch down in forty minutes. I'll gas up the car and my bike."

Mexico City, Mexico

Will, Coulson, and May donned civilian clothing and headed out into the city. Coulson drove him and May in Lola and parked in a nearby alley while Will took his bike and parked in an open-air market a block away from their position with them using their ear comms to keep in contact. Their target was a non-descript clothing shop.

"Dario Marquez's dress shop. Marquez doesn't do the best papers in town, but he also doesn't use a computer." Coulson said.

"So, if Lumley's going to make a run for it, your guess is that he'll use him." May deduced.

"It's worth a shot. So, we wait." Coulson told her.

"Sounds good to me." Will replied when he noticed the food stalls set up around and the intoxicating smell. "And if we're going to be here on a stakeout we might as well fuel up. Either of you want tacos?"

"Will, we're on mission here. The one you set up to help, Skye." May reminded him.

"I know and I'm serious but we're going to be waiting around her for Agent Lumley to show up and the very least if I'm just sitting here doing nothing it'll look weird. Sitting around with some food? Not so much. Oh, Coulson they have Chicharrón. I'll get you some." Will told him.

"Thanks. And Carnitas tacos if they have any with a Mexican coke." Coulson ordered.

"Understood. May?" Will asked.

"Anything with beef and a Jarritos Tangerine soda." May ordered.

"Coming up." Will walked over and began buying some food.

A few hours later…

May finished her bottle of Tangerine soda and placed it in a bag with her and Coulson's empty plate of Tacos. The two were still in the same spot as when they arrived but had their bellies full, which was nice. Will was still in his position as well and neither one of them reported their target had arrived. May took out a small pair of binoculars to take a look at their target and still nothing.

"So, say you're going to do what this guy did. Leave SHIELD and go off the grid. What's your move?" May wondered but Coulson didn't reply. "I'd hide in the wheel well of a 747 flight from Newark to Singapore. Oxygen. A chute. The back half of the trip passes over 3,000 miles of land, a dozen countries. Could drop anywhere."

Coulson still didn't respond so May kept the conversation going. "You'd probably head to South America. You speak Spanish."

"Vacation Spanish." Coulson corrected her.

"Lima, most likely. What with the growing food scene…"

"All right, what's up?" Coulson asked her.

"You tell me."

"You're talking. More than ever."

"Because you're not."

"Is that it? Or is it just to distract me?"

"Both. I know you're having a hard believing all of this Coulson…"

"They messed with my memories, my head. Lines I never thought SHIELD would cross, that I would never cross, and I did." Coulson said. "How can I still pretend to be the good guy with that blood on my hands?"

"Do you plan on putting anyone through that again?" May asked him.

"No." He replied.

"Then there's your answer. You made a mistake, Coulson, that's all it is. Like Will told you, he and I would be the first ones to tell you if there was something wrong. You believe us, right?" She asked him and he didn't respond right away. "Do you believe us?"

"I do."

"Good."

"But I'm tired of secrets. So, I'm glad we're here. We need to root out all the secrets." Coulson said and May felt a bit uncomfortable as she was still holding onto one secret. Nothing mind-shattering like her watching over him but still a secret and with Coulson's want for no more secrets she decided to come clean.

"Agent Ward and I have been having sex—"

"I got him." Coulson said, catching May by surprise but she quickly rebounded and focused on before getting out of the car. Coulson went in one direction to keep a watch over Agent Lumley while May hung around on the sidewalk to follow. They waited for Agent Lumley to finish getting his fake papers and exited the shop before heading west with Coulson having a clear line of sight on him. "He's coming your way."

Agent Lumley walked past May who was browsing a sidewalk stall before following him at a respectable distance. The only issue was that Agent Lumley was extra paranoid so he began walking faster which made May keep up with him. He then took off into a sprint and May followed when she saw him turn right into an alley.

"Will, he's heading into an alley." May radioed.

Agent Lumley ran down the alley which led into a side street but the second he turned the corner Will was waiting there and clotheslined him. Agent Lumley fell onto his back and saw Will standing over him with his pistol aimed at him and his SHIELD badge out. "Agent Lumley, nice to meet you. Agent Detmer with SHIELD." Will introduced himself as May rushed into the alley with Coulson driving in via Lola. "Meet Agents May and Coulson."

"Oh, thank god. You're SHIELD." Agent Lumley breathed a sigh of relief. "This is about the baby girl, isn't it?"

The BUS

They took Agent Lumley to the BUS after Will gave him a quick frisk and other than a pistol he didn't have much on him of interest other than his new fake papers and ID. But when Will checked his watch he found a hidden space for a small pill. "Cyanide capsule? What did you think we were gonna do to you?" Coulson asked him.

"What they did to her." Agent Lumley pointed to the photos of Agent Linda Avery in the file on the table in front of him.

"Agent Linda Avery?"

"She wasn't the first one to die." Lumley took a deep breath before he began telling the story. "We were heading into the Hunan Province of China. A senior agent called in an O84."

"An object of unknown origin. We've dealt with those before." Coulson said.

"He said the entire village had died trying to protect this one. Avery and I were just fresh out of the academy. There were five of us running the back-end until we lost communication with the first team. We went searching. Found the senior agent under a bridge. He managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the neck, but he bled out. He was still holding onto the O84. Poor thing was covered in blood. We thought she was dead, too but she was just asleep in the dead agent's arms."

"Wait. The baby? The girl was the O84?" Coulson said in disbelief.

"If she had powers or something we never witnessed it." Agent Lumley said as Coulson, May, and Will looked at one another in shock. They had no idea what they were expecting but this was not it. "The five of us helicoptered the kid out, headed home. After we landed, we started getting crossed off."

"Executed?"

"Tortured. Heads bashed in. And when it came down to Avery and I, we realized the only way to keep our people and the kid from being hunted…"

"Was to erase her from existence." Coulson deduced.

"Avery was smart. She used the lead agent's credentials to fake a Level 8 clearance. She'd set up a nearly invisible protocol. The foster system was ordered to move the child around every few months."

"But they still got to Avery." Coulson said.

"She died protecting that secret."

"And you left town?"

"Oh, I left everything. I mean, whoever killed that kid's family, and all those agents, was a force to be reckoned with." Agent Lumley told them.

"That girl—"

"Don't tell me about that girl. I don't wanna know, you understand? Just tell me…is she ok?"

"She's safe." Will told him.

"Then maybe it was all worth it." Agent Lumley sighed. "So, are you taking me in?"

"Yeah." May told him.

"No." Coulson spoke up. "I'm not sure SHIELD is the safest place for you right now. We'll get in the air and drop you somewhere along the route."

"Thank you." Agent Lumley said to him. "A bit of advice. Stop digging. And stay the hell away from that girl. 'Cause where she goes, death follows."

Coulson, Will, and May walked away with that grim portent. "It's best no one knows about this. For Skye's safety and for ours. You can never tell her." May said to Coulson but he felt conflicted.

May got them into the air and put them on a flight path back to the SHIELD Academy of Science and Technology. Their path also put them at a small airfield where they'd let Agent Lumley get off. Coulson went to his office as he let his mind go over the startling information they had just learned about Skye. Of all the things he was expecting to learn about her past, he wasn't expecting this.

"Perhaps Skye and I have more in common than I thought." Coulson turned his head and saw Will leaning against the door frame.

"Of all the scenarios I had in my head…I wasn't expecting that." Coulson admitted.

"Me neither. Makes my situation and history look tame in comparison." Will said. "Question now is what do we do with that information?"

"I'm assuming you don't mean we just tell her?" Coulson wondered.

"Skye deserves to know the truth about what happened. If we hide the truth from her then it's no better than what Fury wanted me and May to do for you and you know that." Will said and Coulson agreed. "The real question is what exactly happened that day all those years ago…and who was after her."

"And if they're still after her now." Coulson added. "What happened all those years ago?"

"The only people who were there either don't know or got there too late. Agent Lumley doesn't know anything, and Skye was just a baby, so I doubt there's any memory for me to find at all." Will stated.

"Could you even find one?" Coulson wondered and Will thought it over.

"With what Agent Lumley said happened, I don't think so. If Skye was a child then yes but she was a baby when this happened. It's not till were at least three that our brains handle autobiographical memories and many of us forget memories prior to that due to the rapidly developing hippocampus growth during infancy. We don't forget how to walk, breathe, or sleep but forget who, what, where or why prior to that. The best an infant brain would remember is sensory, motor, or emotional memories." Will explained.

"Meaning Skye could remember how that event made her feel or what she sensed but not exactly what happened." Coulson deduced.

"With her being a baby, I doubt there's a memory left her brain could have kept in viable condition for me to even find and even if I tried I've never done a deep dive like that. I doubt even Professor Xavier could recover anything." Will told him. "I think to find out the truth about what happened that day, we need to focus more on Skye. Simmons gave her a physical and took a blood sample when she joined the team, right?"

"She did. Never found anything out of the ordinary." Coulson answered. "If Skye has powers than they would have manifested by now."

"I agree. If she was a mutant, she would have demonstrated some abilities at this point but if she's not than perhaps there's something we're missing. It took that Primagen meteor for my powers to show themselves so we could be missing something." Will pointed out and Coulson agreed with that logic. "You have the most experienced with O84's so what do you want to do?"

Before Coulson could make a decision, May walked into the office. "Simmons called in. There's a problem."

Line Break xxxxx

SHIELD Academy of Science and Technology

The BUS touched down near the academy so Skye and Fitz-Simmons rendezvous with them there. Fitz was attacked by Donnie and the cadet working with him, Seth, the victim. It was all a ruse to lure Fitz here so Donnie could get him to help him with the ice machine which they had built. Fitz-Simmons and Skye walked onto the BUS with Fitz holding an icepack to the back of his head, dulling the pain of him getting knocked out by whatever Seth used on him.

"How could I have been so stupid?"

"Fitz, will you stop?" Simmons told him as Will, May, and Coulson walked over to them.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's my fault." Fitz apologized.

"Any word on the missing cadets?" Coulson questioned.

"Ward's coordinated the search effort with Agent Weaver. They've set up a perimeter and are going building to building." Simmons reported as Skye walked over to Will.

"Where did you guys go? We were trying to reach you." Skye said.

"Later, Skye." Will told her.

"How dangerous are they?" Coulson asked.

"Extremely dangerous. This device turns any moisture around it to ice, very rapidly, at a great range." Simmons answered.

"But Donnie's a good kid. Just felt isolated. Seth must have befriended him to manipulate him, using him to finish the—the product…" Fitz said when he realized what he said.

"Product?" May asked and Fitz realized something.

"Ok, I think they have a backer. The device, the components are incredible rare and expensive. Nothing either of them could find on the open market themselves." Fitz said.

"If the parts are that rare, we can trace the purchases." Skye suggested.

"Sometimes it's not a bad seed. Just a bad influence. Let's go." Coulson told them and they got to work.

Skye did some digging into the components Fitz remembered from the device he saw in Donnie's room. It took a while, but Donnie wasn't the link they needed, and it was Seth so after some digging with him, she found the smoking gun, so to speak. "We were worried about bad influences, he's the worst there is." Skye brought up the data and a picture of Ian Quinn from Quinn Worldwide.

"Ian Quinn. You've got to be kidding." Coulson remarked.

"Ditto." Will agreed.

"Thermopower radiation sensors. The parts Fitz said were used in the device and shipped to Seth's father, who's a lawyer for Quinn Worldwide. Quinn's buying their technology." Skye said.

"What a sleaze. The cadets have no idea he's a criminal. To them, he's just a venture capitalist." Simmons added.

"This could be just as bad as the Gravitonium incident." Will warned.

"This is Quinn's MO. He finds young talent, and he takes advantage. Right? Hello?" Skye said to Coulson who seemed to be on another planet, mentally at least.

"Contact Ward and Agent Weaver. Have them widen their search to include Ian Quinn." Coulson ordered and Fitz-Simmons left to do that.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Skye asked Coulson.

"Go ahead, Coulson. I got this." Will assured him so he left with Skye to talk.

They walked away from the med lab to the hallway and Skye could tell that Coulson was deep in thought about something. "Ever since you got back from who-knows-where, you won't even look at me. I know things have been heavy right now, but…did I something wrong?"

"No. I did." Coulson admitted. "Ian Quinn's not the only one who manipulates people, Skye. We do it all the time. Actually, teach it at the Academy."

"What are you talking about?" Skye asked.

"I've been keeping something from you but recently, I realized I had no right to do that."

"You lied to me." She said and Coulson nodded.

"Will took me and Agent May to Mexico City to talk to someone. Somebody who knows where you came from."

Skye straightened up when she heard the news. "Tell me."

"When we started this, I warned you…that you might not like what you learn."

"And I told you…that it can't be worse than what I've imagined." Skye said.

"It is." Coulson said with a heavy heart. "The agent who dropped you off at St. Agnes was not your mother. But she was killed trying to protect you. Twenty-four years ago, a small SHIELD team and a small village were massacred in the Hunan province of China…"

With a heavy heart, Coulson told Skye the truth of what they had learned. About everything Agent Lumley had told them. It was difficult for him to say but even more so for Skye to hear. Tears dripped down her face as she was told the heartbreaking truth of what happened, and Coulson comforted her as best he could.

Will was still with Fitz-Simmons in the med lab trying to track down Donnie and Seth when his danger sense gave him a very small continuous tingle. He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary as they were in the lab on the BUS, but his danger sense was going off. From how small the tingle was in the back of his head and its continuous nature, it seemed to indicate that there wasn't an immediate threat to him right now but something coming up could be a danger. Will's phone beeped so he checked and saw EDI had given him various notifications coming in from weather satellites that picked up the sudden appearance and formation of storm clouds.

"What the…" Will walked over and brought up the SHIELD satellites on a terminal and saw the same thing. "Fitz-Simmons…"

The duo turned to see the information Will got on the terminal. "Oh my god…" Simmons muttered.

"Could Donnie's machine do that?" Will asked and Fitz nodded. "Gather everyone in the briefing room. Now!"

Fitz-Simmons ran to get the others while Will raced up to the briefing room and brought up all the data SHIELD and nearby weather satellites could give them. They were in a bad way, and it could get worse. Donnie's ice machine had just created a superstorm over the SHIELD Academy putting hundreds of people at risk and even more if it spread.

"Talk to me. How do we stop it?" Coulson asked.

"We can't stop it. They're in real trouble." Fitz told him.

"Where is the device?" May asked.

"Most likely, right there." Simmons brought up the scans of the storm. "Dead center of the storm."

"We've got to get Donnie out of there." Fitz said.

"Ward, how are things on the ground?" Coulson radioed.

"We got almost everyone safe in the Boiler room. How bad is this going to get?"

"Bad. Can you reach the North campus parking garage? We think Donnie Gill and his device might be trapped in the center of the storm."

"That's not far from where I am. I can get there." Ward said only to speak again a few seconds later. "Yeah, I can't get there."

"Is there any other way to get to Donnie? Think fast, people." Coulson suggested.

"May, can the BUS get us high enough over the storm?" Will asked her and she nodded. "I'll go."

"Will, are you sure you can handle that?" Simmons asked him.

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think I could make it. May, get us up fast." Will told her.

May took them up into the air as fast as possible, quickly getting them up into the atmosphere above the storm. There the massive storm clouds circled around the area except for the emptiness in the eye of the storm but unlike a hurricane, this eye wasn't docile. It had winds at hundreds of miles per hour, lightning strikes, and extremely cold temperature. Fitz-Simmons, Coulson, and Skye were in the loading bay with some medical supplies and all of them had breathing masks connected to pressurized tanks of oxygen.

"Will, the weather seems to be getting worse by the second and it's spreading fast. You better get going." Coulson said as Will walked into the loading bay wearing his Aegis gear with his hood and mask down. "You sure you can handle this?"

"I'll be right back." Will pulled his hood up and his mask activated before he marched over to the cargo ramp. "Masks on!"

Coulson, Skye, and Fitz-Simmons put on their masks and turned the valves of their oxygen tanks as Will hit the ramp button. Red lights flashed and alarms sounded as the ramp came down. Fitz-Simmons, Coulson, and Skye held onto the railings as the different pressures between inside the BUS and outside caused some rushing wind. Will was fine as his suit was designed to handle the wind and was pressurized with a recyclable air supply. He took a few steps forward and dove out of the BUS head first like a hero in an action movie.

The wind rushed past his suit as he fell down into the eye of the storm and was instantly around by the powerful winds, so he course corrected with his flight and flew straight down. Freezing temperatures, hail the size of baseballs, flashes of lightning, rumbles of thunder, and incredibly fast winds didn't deter him as he just flew straight down. His HUD zoomed in on the parking garage and that's where he saw Donnie and Seth working on the freezing machine, so he kicked up the speed to them.

Donnie and Seth were working as fast as their slowly freezing hands could go to try and stop the extreme weather they had caused. "Seth, hold the barium hydroxide chamber in place!" Donnie shouted.

"Ok."

The two worked as fast as they could but with the wind and freezing temperature it was a lot easier said than done. "Hold on. Ok. That should do it. Now take…"

[Thunder crack]

A bolt of lightning zipped down from the sky towards the weather machine in between Donnie and Seth when Aegis landed next to them and created a telekinetic shield. It blocked the lightning and protected them and the machine from getting hit.

"Whoa…" Donnie and Seth saw their life flash before their eyes as that lightning bolt would have hit them if not for Aegis showing up. Aegis looked at them and then at the machine before he picked it up and smashed it onto the ground.

"No! What are you doing?!" Seth shouted, rushing over only for Aegis to punch him across the face and knock him out.

"Stop!" Donnie begged only for Aegis to look at him.

"Go to sleep." Aegis said and using his telepathy he put Donnie to sleep. He looked at the destroyed weather machine and not wanting to take any chances he tightened his fist, surrounding the machine and all its parts with his blue telekinetic aura. All the parts began to squeeze and condense as the grinding groan of constricting metal was all that could be heard before he used his telekinetic destruction, and the entire machine was crushed into a pile of dust that was carried away by the wind. With the machine taken care of, he picked Donnie and Seth up over his shoulders and surrounded himself with a telekinetic shield before flying straight up. "I'm coming back, and I got them!"

Will flew through the eye of the storm using the telekinetic shield to protect Donnie and Seth from the effects of the storm along with the lack of oxygen and pressure as they got higher. He emerged up out of the storm and hovered into the BUS where he put Donnie and Seth down. Fitz-Simmons quickly tended to them, and Skye was about to shut the ramp when Will motioned her to stop. EDI brought up more satellite images and the storm didn't seem to have any indication of slowing down so he jumped back out. Coulson motioned her to shut the ramp so she did as Will hovered in the sky over the storm.

"Will, talk to me, what's going on?" Coulson radioed.

"EDI showed me the feed from the weather satellites. The storm doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon and if it keeps going at this rate a lot of people are going to get hurt." Will told him.

"Will, with the storm this bad you try to evacuate people then they could get hurt and no one other than you can get close." Coulson told him.

"Maybe we can use Donnie's machine? Reverse the effects that way?" Fitz suggested joining the radio transmission.

"Uh, bad news on that part. I destroyed it." Will admitted.

"You what?!" Simmons shouted.

"Sorry, it was a gut reaction. Felt like the thing to do in the moment." Will apologized as he inadvertently put them in a bad spot. Without Donnie's machine than they couldn't stop the storm when Will began to get a crazy idea. "Guys, give me the basics of what causes storms. In layman's terms."

Fitz-Simmons looked at one another in confusion before Simmons answered. "Basically, a center of low pressure develops with the system of high pressure surrounding it. The combination of opposing forces can create winds and form the storm clouds and all the bad weather."

"So, Donnie's machine created ice in the clouds causing the pressure differential and that's what's causing the storm?" Will asked.

"Basically, yes. He seeded the clouds to make this storm. Will, why are you asking?" Fitz asked him.

"What if I do the opposite. Heat up the air and force the wind in the opposite direction. Cancel out the pressure system." He suggested and the others on the plane looked at one another. Will's idea was a mixture of sheer lunacy and idiocy, but potential brilliance. "Guys!"

"Uh…maybe?" Fitz-Simmons replied.

"Will, what you're suggesting is insane. That's not possible." Skye told him.

"Because no one ever tried or had the powers to do it. I've got the latter, so I'll try the former." Will said.

"Will, wait! The energy release of a full force hurricane is the equivalent of a 10-megaton nuclear bomb. It would take at least that amount of energy to counter it." Fitz warned him.

"Duly noted. May, get the BUS clear of the area. I don't want you caught in the crossfire." Will told her.

"Understood. Good luck." May put the BUS in flight mode and flew away while Will flew down into the eye of the superstorm before stopping in the middle of it. His flight kept him in the air before he began glowing bright blue as he concentrated and focused his powers on feeling the molecules in the super storm. This was definitely a big step up from his more basic applications of his molecular manipulation as he never had to deal with such rapid moving molecules acting so erratically. To him, sensing them moving around him it was like trying to keep watch over a dozen giant buckets filled with marbles you tossed down a large pachinko machine. It's chaos but on a closer inspection there's an order to the madness somewhere but it still being chaos made it difficult.

Will held out his right arm and focused on the air molecules moving around him, the wind being generated by the super storm as it was rushing around him in a spiral-like fashion, like the clouds of the super storm indicated similar to a tornado so he began forcing the air in the opposite direction of the spiral. Slowly but surely the wind around him picked up speed and intensity, going in the opposite direction. That did its job as he began to push back the wind in the eye of the superstorm but the rest of it was still to be contended. While he picked up the wind speed in his general area he tried igniting pockets of fire in the clouds via his fire manipulation. Since it was there that the clouds were seeded he figured that igniting fires there and changing the temperature would be the best place to start but it was easier said than done. The wind speed, rain, and temperature were the perfect force to combat his fire so that anytime he managed to spark up a large enough fireball it was snuffed out in a few seconds. Make one patch of fire in one spot in the superstorm clouds and it would get snuffed out in a few seconds and not help.

"Dammit! This is getting me nowhere! EDI, any suggestions?!" Will shouted, trying his best to keep up with what he was doing. The wind part was the easiest and seemed to be doing something as he pretty much managed to reverse the air flow in the eye of the superstorm but getting it past that into the clouds was proving to be harder than he thought. And that didn't take into consideration his exercise in futility with sparking fire in the clouds and warming things up.

"I don't know how much help I can be, Will. What you're suggesting isn't something that is grounded in science." EDI replied.

"Any kind of suggestion would do!" Will told her as he began to feel the strain on his brain as the molecular manipulation subset of his powers wasn't exactly something he had really training extensively so he was pushing himself very hard.

"Perhaps changing your approach is the answer. The simple matter is you need to cancel out the pressure system caused by the ice machine seeding the clouds forming the superstorm but creating small bursts of fire in the clouds isn't working as they don't maintain a hot enough temperature to upset the balance. You would need to release an incredibly powerful force of heat to do that." EDI told him.

"Right, the same amount of heat as a 10-megaton nuclear bomb. EDI, can I do that?" He asked her.

"I believe you could create similar circumstances with your powers, yes." EDI then showed him a rough animation via his HUD of what to do. "You can already create plasma so if you compress enough of it in a forcefield, the pressure and heat could build up enough to the point where it could dispel the storm."

"Like magnetic accelerators. Got it." Will took a deep breath and concentrated, cutting off the wind manipulation he was doing as this would require all his mental fortitude. He held his out in front of him about 12 inches apart from each other before that space began to spark with his trademark blue electricity indicative of his plasma/lightning manipulation. After focusing a bit more, the various sparks of electricity/plasma/lightning turned into one solid beam which he then captured in a small forcefield.

"Keep going, Will." EDI told him as she monitored the energy buildup of the plasma he had contained.

It was a spectacle to see if anyone had seen it but there was no one there. Will's suit kept him safe from the harsh wind and cold temperatures of the storm so he could focus on the plasma condensing and buildup. The plasma buildup Will was doing was something truly to see as he literally had a bolt of lightning trapped in a bottle, metaphorically speaking. The plasma energy built up as it was condensed in Will's forcefield getting hotter and more powerful. The powerful and plasma buildup soon got to the point where it shifted shape from one singular beam of lighting/plasma into an incredibly bright and powerful blue glowing amorphous shape of concentrated plasma energy. Will inadvertently used his powers in a mock fusion reaction and was now holding the power of a star in his hands…well, a very, very, very…very, very, very, very small star.

"Fuck…" Will grunted in pain as his head felt like it was going through a blender and his nose was bleeding profusely.

"Will, you're in danger! Release it now and get clear!" EDI told him.

"This is gonna hurt…" He cut off his flying and fell to the ground before he sent up the forcefield plasma mini-star like it was a bomb. He saw it sail up into the air before it reached the height of his throw and with that the telekinetic forcefield he put around it dissipated, and he caught a glimpse of a once in a lifetime kind of scene. The second the forcefield was gone the plasma mini-star seemed to suck the surrounding space into itself. The clouds and air around the mini-star was sucked in before in a bright flash of blue light it erupted like a mini-nuke and sent out a powerful shockwave. The shockwave shock the Academy campus and knocked Will through the air, sending him to the ground where he ended up crashing into a car in the parking garage. Ironically, he ended up crashing into the same car Donnie and Seth had stolen and used to hold their ice device. The clouds parted from the shockwave, so the sun finally shined through, and all the excessive wind had suddenly stopped. "Ugh…crap."

Will pulled himself out of the partially destroyed car he fell on and collapsed to his knees, quickly pulling his hood off so his mask came down. He coughed up a lung and spit out some blood in his mouth as more came out of his nose. His ribs ached, his back hurt like hell and the pain in his head felt like the worst hangover ever but when he looked up the superstorm was gone and in its place was a large shining plasma mini-star up in the sky like a second sun. What he experienced was similar to the Antimatter explosion from the 2009 Tom Hanks movie Angels and Demons and he'd be relishing in having a new powerful ability if he wasn't in pain.

"[Bzzt—garbled transmission] –are you there? Will, come in! Will, report! Are you there?! Please answer!" Coulson radioed and Will tapped his earcomm piece.

"Ease up on the yelling, Coulson. I'm here." Will told him and he could hear collective sighs of relief from the others. "Things look all good on my end but how about on yours?"

"All good. The storm is gone. Canceled out, wiped out by whatever you just did." Fitz told him.

"Will, what exactly did you do because SHIELD satellites are picking up an intense energy signature there." Simmons said to him.

"Something to do with plasma and compressing. I don't know. It worked though…" Will answered.

"Will, are you all right?" Coulson asked him.

"Ask me that tomorrow." Will laid down on the concrete of the parking garage and just rested. "You guys mind picking me up? I'm tired…"

"We're on our way." Coulson said before signing off.

One hour later…

Coulson and the others picked Will up at the parking garage where Simmons proceeded to give him some first aid. Ward and the other Agents along with the cadets were ok and while there was some damage to the Campus buildings, things could have been worse. SHIELD was already making the right calls to help the nearby areas that were affected by Donnie and Seth's superstorm. Speaking of the two mad geniuses, they woke up in handcuffs and in SHIELD custody for their stunt and given what could have happened then they're futures in SHIELD were done for. But the biggest question for many was the cause of the mini-star that was in the sky, how it got there, and who made it?

Will was seated in the med lab wearing his regular clothes minus a shirt as Simmons finished wrapping his ribs up in bandages after applying some ointment. He had some napkins in his nose to deal with the bleeding and an icepack he pressed against his head. Simmons finished wrapping the bandages and tightened them causing Will to groan in pain. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I've been through worse. Give me 48 hours and I'll be back in prime condition." Will assured her.

"I don't know how. Sure, you have a regenerative healing factor, but you should be dead. You feel several hundred feet into a car and walked away with only a few fractured ribs compared to the others that are heavily bruised along with the concussion you have. And I don't even want to think about what kind of damage you could have done to your brain." Simmons said as Will slipped on a plain grey t-shirt

"My suit handle most of the damage from the impact and I'm built of strong stuff." Will quipped when Coulson walked in.

"How're you feeling?"

"Other than feeling like my brain was hogtied in million different directions while being pierced with a poker, I'm fine." Will pulled the napkins out of his nose and placed them on the table with the other blood stained napkins. "And here I thought I was past this phase. It's like I'm starting all over again."

"With some of your powers, not all of them." Coulson told him.

"I'll just clean all this up." Simmons came over with gloves and a trashcan.

"Ah…" Will stopped her before concentrating and a few seconds later the tissues burst into flames until only dust remained. "I saw you taking your chance.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." Simmons remarked. "Still, with the stress your brain underwent, I'd advise not using your telepathy or telekinesis for at least 24 hours so you can recover."

"Duly noted." Will replied and she left the room. "Any blowback from my little stunt?"

"Not yet. The little mini-star you made is gone now and I think people are just glad that the storm was over before it spread or caused more damage but if we were able to pick up what was going on so were others." Coulson said when he saw Will groan in pain as he adjusted himself on the chair he was sitting on. "You sure you're ok?"

"Simmons gave me a basic checkup and I'm fine. As far as damage goes it's fairly superficial and nothing I can't heal from. As for my brain, I'll go pay Dr. Banner a visit to be on the safe side." Will told him and Coulson was ok with that. "I could really use a drink. Come on."

Will got up and headed up to the living area with Coulson joining him. There at the bar they saw May nursing a cup of tea and when she saw Will walk over she poured him a glass of whiskey. "How're you feeling?" She asked.

"Peachy considering what could have happened. I'm the first person in history to change the weather." Will joked as he sat down at the bar and took a sip of whiskey.

"How're Donnie and Seth?" May asked Coulson.

"Alive, thanks to Will but no longer on the short track at the Academy. They're being stripped of all SHIELD access and depending on how things go with the disciplinary committee they could be looking at federal charges for mass destruction, reckless endangerment, property damage, and a few counts of illegal weapons constructing and selling." Coulson told him.

"Bright futures gone caput because of greed. No doubt Seth's lawyer dad is going to try and fight this but as far as I'm concerned the kid deserves a jail cell for building something that caused all this damage and then trying to sell it. The world's better off without a reckless scientists in it for the money. The kid's a genius so he's smart enough to not do something that stupid." Will said and Coulson agreed.

"And Donnie?" May wondered.

"I agree with Fitz's assessment. He was manipulated but still, he should have known better." Will stated. "The teachers really need to do a better job at watching their students."

"Isn't that the truth." Coulson admitted when he noticed the look May had on her face. "May?"

"Did, uh, you hear what I said in Mexico?" She asked him.

"What specifically?" Coulson wondered and Will put his fingers in his ears.

"About Ward and me…"

"Yeah, I heard." Coulson said and he couldn't help the smirk on his face. "I trust you know what you're doing. If it's a problem…"

"I'll end it." She promised and Coulson nodded. When things seemed good, Will removed his fingers and took another sip of whiskey.

"How's Skye?" Will wondered.

"You told her, didn't you?" May asked Coulson.

"I had to."

"It must have destroyed her to hear all that." May said.

"That's the thing about Skye. What I told her shattered her world. Her lifelong search led to stories of murder, and now it's too difficult to continue. Her search is over. Her story ends here. But you know what she said?" Coulson asked and they urged him to continue. "She said, no. Her story started here. Her whole life, she thought she wasn't wanted, that she didn't belong. That every family that took her in didn't want her to stay. Didn't care. But all that time, it was SHIELD protecting her, looking after her. That's what she took away from the story. Not the family she'll never have, but the one she's always had. Here I am, telling her something that could destroy her faith in humanity and somehow, she managed to repair a little piece of mine. The world is full of evil and lies and pain and death, and you can't hide from it. You can only face it. The question is when you do…how do you respond? Who do you become?"

May and Will took what Coulson just said and were humbled a bit to say the least. The kind of bombshell information Skye received could have easily broken her, yet she has come out on the other side with a newfound sense of belonging and determination. And it also seemed to help revitalize Coulson's belief in SHIELD. Sure, there are bad eggs and SHIELD may do some things that we don't agree with but it's moments like this that are why SHIELD exists and why agents like them do what they do.

"Hate to ruin the lovely mood but we were interrupted on the BUS when I asked you this. Now that we knows Skye's past SHIELD was called in to investigate an O84, if Skye's that O84…what do you want to do?" Will asked him.

"That should be her decision." Coulson said and Will nodded. That seemed as reasonable an answer if any. This involved Skye so if they wanted to pursue the O84 lead and really find out the why of what happened to Skye then she deserved a say in it.

"Then I guess we can call it a day." May admitted.

"Not yet. There's one more thing I need to do." Coulson said.

When Seth and Donnie were taken into custody, they got Seth's phone and found a number he called prior to the superstorm forming. They figured it had to be Ian Quinn or a way to get in touch with him. If Seth was going to sell the device to Quinn then they would need to be in contact to work out the details and Seth had called that number a few times in the past. The number was blocked and registered to various overseas LLCs, but all points led to Quinn Worldwide, so Coulson was calling to give him a warning. The phone ran for a few seconds before the other line answered.

"Seth, I've gotta say, you have exceeded my expectations." Ian Quinn said.

"We're on to you." Coulson told him.

"Who is this?"

"Agent Phil Coulson with SHIELD. We've never actually met, but I'm familiar with your work. All of it." Coulson said as Will sat down in a chair to watch.

"So, this is a getting to know you call?"

"No. Just a message. The first time your aircraft drifts over any country allied with SHIELD, we'll shoot you out of the sky. And I've got a special friend who will make sure we find you and when we do, it will hurt. That much I can promise." Coulson warned him.

"So, this is a curtesy call. Well, thank you, Agent Coulson. And I have a message for you. The Clairvoyant told me to say…hello."

Ian Quinn hung up after that leaving Coulson and Will with another mystery but inadvertently a new lead.

"The own idiot just made himself a target." Will chuckled in amusement. "This is gonna fun."

End of Chapter 21

Hey, everyone. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry it took longer than expected. General life caught up to me limiting my time to write and also Helldivers 2. I make no excuses for that, but I will say this. It is awesome! Any chance any of you play, my player name is the same as my profile. Hope to see you Helldivers out there! LIBERTY!

We got a little bit of a glimpse into Will's life just after his parents died but before the events with his cousin in Paris. Timeline wise it's in-between chapters 1 and 2 of the story. I glossed over and generalized a lot of what happened in the 9 months after his parents death and before that trip to Paris to rescue his cousin to move the story along as it wasn't super important which allows me to now look back and further explore parts of it. Case in point the part with Will's sort of early vigilante activity with his beginning training when he was just starting out and also an explanation as to why he doesn't constantly use his telepathy. Hearing all those voices and thoughts in his head was a bad time for him so out of principle he doesn't read minds or dive too deep because of that. Hope you liked it as it showed more of Will's past and how that hero part of him was kind of always there even before he got his suit and was just starting out in his training. The fight scene was inspired by the Robin Alley fight from episode 1 of Titans.

One thing to point out is that due to the circumstances of Will being there, revealing the truth to Coulson much earlier, helping him with information about Project Tahiti and not the whole Hydra situation on top of it and meeting with Fury, Coulson's reaction to May isn't as antagonistic as it was on the show.

Next chapter, Will's long list feelers and information seekers gets him something on a case that while on the surface was dealt with, he knew there was more to it. The Essex Corporation and he soon learns that it and what remains of the Hellfire Club are working together. For what? He has no idea, but he takes what he knows to Professor Xavier, and they investigate. While it's good that he does that as it is his job, it takes him away from Coulson and the others who have an unfortunate run-in with Ian Quinn that puts Skye in danger. The only way to save her leads Will to finally meet his father, John Garrett. Until next time.

Also, not sure if you checked my profile page but I do have a P-A-T-R-E-O-N page now. It's Choejhulkp9 writing endeavor. Don't feel pressured to sign up. Regardless, I still plan on doing what I'm doing. Writing for free and updating on and I'm slowly working on Wattpad. Sorry I'm really bad about that. But for those /that would like to help with what they can or are feeling gracious, it would be greatly appreciated. I've got tiers for any small amount, and I've also got some P-A-T-R-E-O-N exclusive stuff that won't be shown on D-E-V-I-A-N-T-A-R-T or Fanfiction just yet. Again, don't feel pressured.

Again, thanks to War Sage, Masamune X23, JhotoLoraxius, Omni-Creator Kami of Anime and all the other people who PM me with ideas for my stories. Thank you, guys. They help a lot. Also, make sure to check my Deviantart every now and then for new pics I'll put up. I've made cover photos for just about all my stories, but I'll have more pics made so check them out.

William Alexander Detmer/Birthname: William Alexander Danvers

Born: September 8th, 1988-Currently 25

Moniker= Aegis (means something under protection from a benevolent source/Shield of Zeus and Athena)

Primagen Enhanced Inhuman

SHIELD Status: Level 8 Agent / Special Operations, Tactics and Defense Specialist (SOTD) Serial number: NE616IN

Member of the Avengers

Appearance: Stephen Amell from Arrow, Season 1 build.

Aegis Combat gear: Earth X's Dark Arrow Vibranium jacket and pants with retractable full-face mask colored Black and Blue. Eye covers in mask are colored blue as well. Improved design resists more damage and resists deep sea and certain atmospheric pressure with in-built recyclable oxygen supply to last an hour and improved HUD. Special polymer blends and weaved material with special Vibranium micro-weave mesh mixed with steel alloy Carbonadium increasing strength and durability without adding on additional weight. Tear resistant and bulletproof.

Shoulder strap pellet holders. Combat gloves and forearm guards with weapons and equipment.

SHIELD gear: Combat boots, black combat pants, with form fitting dark blue long sleeve athletic shirt. SHIELD Tactical combat vest.

Shoulder strap pellet holders. Combat gloves and forearm guards with weapons and equipment.

Casual Outfit: dark blue or black sneakers, jeans, blue or black t-shirt and either a zip-up hoodie, jacket, or button up over.

Weapons:

Signature Guns:

Modified Heckler & Koch P30L handgun with custom grip and micro-dermal sensor to his palm print. Improved barrel for accuracy and damage output. Added compensator or suppressor attachment. Spare firearm Glock 17.

Modified Knight's Armament SR-25 Sniper rifle with modified scope, bipod, and suppressor.

Modified M249 Mk46 Light Machine gun with a modified barrel, magazine insertion well. Equipped with adjustable buttstock, 100-round magazine drum, deployable bipod, red dot sight, flashlight, and laser sight attachment.

Modified TDI/KRISS Vector-.45 ACP with modified barrel, stock, grip, extended magazine, red-dot sight, flashlight, laser sight, and silencer attachment.

Modified Remington 879 MSC Masterkey 12-gauge compact shotgun.

Custom collapsible Oneida Kestrel Compound Bow and quiver of special arrows.

Milkor 40mm Grenade Launcher.

Others:

Right forearm guard wrist mounted retractable Vibranium/alloy blades.

Left forearm guard wrist mounted small retractable Vibranium Shield & touchpad computer.

10 dark blue flechettes/throwing arrows wrapped around his ankles.

2 Vibranium orbs that Will is able to manipulate.

Natural Language Modified Artificial Intelligence program EDI.

Predator Combi stick/spear

2 Predator Shuriken

4 Laser net devices

Predator knife

Microtech Combat Troodon OTF knife

Personal Vehicles: Red and Black 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS (At home in Jersey City), Red and Black 1970 Harley Davidson Titan V-Rod motorcycle, Specially modified 2012 Aston Martin DBS V-12 spy car, SHIELD Quinjet for transport

Notable talents: Genius level intellect potential, self-defense military training from Harold Detmer, knowledge, and training in 15 types of martial arts, gun knowledge and expert marksman trained by Clint Barton, espionage and spy skills trained by Natasha Romanoff, SHIELD tactics and medical training from Coulson and SHIELD trainers, well-crafted knowledge and understanding of psychology, knowledge, and experience with engineering both mechanical and electrical, fluent in dozens of languages, trained pilot.

Personality: Kind, caring, composed, attentive, intelligent, and driven. Can be a bit of a smartass.

When insulted, angered, or in a serious situation, focused and relentless. Considered dangerous and unforgiving in these types of situations.

Uses powers sparingly in the field unless absolutely needs to.

Pairing: Will x Skye/Daisy Johnson x Crystal

Powers:

Rakyat Tatau: Mystical tattoo that enhances speed, strength, stamina, intelligence, instincts, healing speed ad metabolic function to absolute human peak potential. (Captain America Level Super Soldier)

Telekinesis: the ability to impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means

Power Level=Advanced: level 4 out of 5

Binding-to keep an object/being from moving

Levitation-to lift an object

Orbital Field-to makes objects and energy orbit around user

Telekinetic Shield-to create a shield of telekinetic energy around user or others/strength of shield depends on mental strength and focus of user

Psionic Speed-to augment user's physical speed

Psionic Strength-to augment user's physical strength

Telekinetic Bullet Projection-projecting telekinetic energy as bullets

Telekinetic Choking-to strangle someone with telekinesis

Telekinetic Grip-To grasp an object firmly in place

Telekinetic Maneuver-to alter an object's directional course

Telekinetic Pull & Push-to pull or push objects away from user

Telekinetic Aura/Sense-To sense one's surroundings with telekinesis (10-mile limit)

Telekinetic Compression-to crush or compact an object

Telekinetic Blast-to emit telekinetic energy as a blast of blue energy

Telekinetic Destruction-to make an object explode into dust

Telekinetic Flight-using telekinesis to fly

Psionic Explosion-to create/discharge psychic energy across a wide range

Telepathy: mentally receive or transmit information

Power Level=Advanced: level 4 out of 5

Mind Reading-ability to read the thoughts of others

Memory Reading-the ability to read the target's memories

Psychic Communication-the ability to secretly converse with others

Telepathic Speaking-to speak aloud using the mind

Telepathic Projection-to project images or memories into the physical plane

Download-the ability to process/download information of another person (If used in a violent or angry mood, can harm the victim)

Knowledge Replication-the ability to replicate learned knowledge and skills

Knowledge Projection-the ability to project knowledge to another

Rapid brain activity-the ability to process and understand information at incredible rates

Mental Inducement-The ability to put the targets mind into the wanted state

Mental Hallucination-the ability to cause mental hallucinations

Mind Link-the ability to develop a permanent mental bond with any person

Mind Walking/Melding-to enter another's consciousness

Precognition awareness-six sense awareness of imminent danger

Telepathic Prediction-the ability to know a person's moves by reading their brain waves

Astral Projection-to separate one's mind from their body and explore physical and extra-physical plane

If separated from body too long, very dangerous. Capable of killing spirits, demons, and other supernatural souls.

Telepathic Surgery-the ability to perform neuropsychic surgery, healing and/or damaging the mind

Memory/Mental Manipulation-the ability to manipulate a target's memories and mind

Clairvoyance-the ability to gain direct visual information through non-physical means

Triggered only by serious events

Foresight-the ability to foresee possible future events and observe what may happen

Needs certain triggers to activate

Powers Gained from Exposure to the Aether

Invisibility-Can use his telekinesis to fold the light around his body or an object to make him or anything invisible to sight. Requires great deal of concentration.

Healing-Can use his telekinesis to move parts of the human body around at the molecular or atomic level to heal. Requires great deal of concentration.

Molecular Manipulation Power Boost: Can use his telekinesis to adjust the molecules in an object to turn it into something else so long as he understands the objects chemical structure and makeup. I.e., turning gas into water or turning gravel into iron. Can accelerate, slow down and adjust spacing of molecules. Requires a great deal of concentration to master. Has sub powers.

Fire manipulation-Can use his telekinesis to ignite the elements in the air by creating friction at a molecular level at will to make fire.

Ice/Water manipulation-Can use his telekinesis to slow down or stop all the molecules around an area from moving, thus creating ice and freezing anything he stops from moving. Can turn ice into water or steam by manipulating the speed of the molecules and control the element with his telekinesis.

Wind manipulation-Can use his telekinesis to move the oxygen/nitrogen molecules around him in the atmosphere to manipulate air/wind.

Earth manipulation-Can use his telekinesis to manipulate the molecules of earth or earthen elements including most solid objects, specifically all minerals and mineral compositions regardless of their state.

Plasma/Lightning manipulation-Can use telekinesis to manipulate highly ionized gas molecules in the air to build up a static charge and then discharge it as a form of ionized Plasma/lightning. Plasma/Lightning is colored blue. Can be condensed to form a nuclear-bomb scale like explosion. Requires complete concentration and is very taxing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of SHIELD or any Marvel Properties, they belong to their respective owners, I'm just a fan.