Chapter Text
Melinda May was having a hell of a day. It began with a call from Nevada about an enhanced, which turned out just to be the after-effects of a radiation leak. She, Yo-yo and the rest of the agents she’d brought were just about to head back to the Lighthouse when they’d received a distress signal from Billy Koenig in Los Angeles. May turned the Zephyr around, and they landed outside L.A. less than an hour later.
“Some weird shit has been going on here over the past two months,” Koenig said. “Our equipment’s picked up disturbances before, but this was the biggest one yet. The energy signature is nothing like I’ve ever seen. Our scientists can’t seem to figure it out.”
“Can you send the readings to Fitzsimmons? Maybe they’ll know what this means,” May replied.
“Will do. The energy has been picked up at a construction site and in Brentwood, but the latest occurrence came from a set of hills just outside the city. Similar things have happened there before, but my scouting teams haven’t fond anything. I don’t know what it could possibly be, there’s nothing there.”
“Let’s wait to hear from Fitzsimmons, see what they say,” May replied.
“I’ll go now,” Yo-yo said from behind them. “I can search the area quicker than anyone. You know I can.”
“You don’t know what you’re up against, maybe we should wait-” Koenig began.
“There’s no reason not to, it’s just a search. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“But-”
“Go ahead,” May interrupted. “You might not find anything, but there’s always a chance. And right now, we need all the information we can get.”
Yo-yo smiled and began to walk toward the door, but May stopped her. “Bring a team, just in case. And call HQ before you leave. They need to know what’s happening.” Yo-yo nodded and left the room.
“Agent May, are you sure about this? Anything could happen, easily. Whatever we’re up against is dangerous,” Koenig said.
“I know. But Yo-yo can handle it, and honestly, she probably would have gone anyways.”
“Okay,” Koenig said, clearly defeated. “I’ll go send the stats to Fitzsimmons. I will let you know if they find anything.”
“Thank you, Agent,” May said as she left the lab.
*****
Yo-yo leaned against the wall in the hallway and pulled out her phone, calling the first number on her speed dial.
“Mack?”
“Hey Yo-yo, how’s the mission?”
“Nevada wasn’t anything, we’re in Los Angeles now. Koenig’s been tracking some kind of dark energy, and he needs Fitzsimmons to look at the data. He’s sending it over now.”
“I’ll let them know.”
“I’m going right now to check out the site, see what I can find. May thinks it’s nothing, but I know something’s there. I can feel it.”
“Come back safe, call me when you’re back.”
“Goodbye Turtle Man.”
Yo-yo hung up and went to collect her team. She wasn’t lying when she told Mack about the site, but she didn’t mention the dark, ominous feeling she had. Something big was going to happen today, and it wasn’t going to be good.
*****
Fitz had been so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice Mack enter the room. It had been a long, confusing couple of months in which Jemma and the others had caught him up on everything that had happened since he’d, well, since he’d been dead. It had been a lot, and honestly, he was still processing. A tap on Fitz’s shoulder woke him from his stupor.
“Hey, Turbo,” Mack said. “Just got a call from Yo-yo. They need you and Simmons to analyze an energy signature to let them know what they’re up against.”
“Yeah, I- I can do that. Let you know when we get anywhere.”
“Thanks,” Mack said as he walked out of the lab. “Good luck!”
He pulled up the stats on the computer and got Jemma from the other side of the room. “Mack needs us to look over some readings that Koenig sent over. Some kind of energy signature.”
“Oh, we’d best start working then,” Jemma replied. She didn’t mean to sound so dismissive, but things with Fitz were still… strange, to say the least. She couldn’t help but wonder if he thought he was a replacement or a copy. (Although in her heart she knew this wasn’t true.)
Fitz pulled up the stats, and Jemma was surprised by what she saw. “I’ve never seen anything like it! Nothing we’ve ever encountered looked remotely like this, did it?”
“I know, right?” Fitz typed in a command and brought up a more in-depth report.
“Wait, Fitz, look right here,” she said, pointing at the screen.
“That’s why Koenig’s scientists couldn’t figure anything out, they’d been looking at it all wrong. It’s not one signature.”
“It’s two,” Jemma finished.
*****
Yo-yo entered the main area of the base. She had her team picked out and just needed to find them. She knew May wanted her to bring a full combat team, but she only needed two agents. However, there was only one in the room, and he wasn’t someone Yo-yo would ever choose for her mission.
“Keller, where’s Piper and Davis?” she asked the agent curtly.
“Uh, kitchen, I think?” he said, startled. Yo-yo didn’t mean to be so blunt, but she couldn’t stand him. It might have been the way he talked down to everyone or the disproportionate amount of respect he seemed to require, but either way, Keller wasn’t someone she needed in her life. Yo-yo nodded and walked toward the base’s kitchen.
She heard Piper and Davis before she saw them.
“You, really? Never would have pegged you as a nerd, let alone for Jurassic Park,” Piper laughed.
“Have you seen those dinosaurs?” Davis replied. “Jurassic World made me want one.”
“Well, Boss might kick you out for that, but I’m with you.”
Yo-yo knocked on the doorframe, and the two turned to look at her. They were sitting on bar stools and drinking water bottles.
“Yo-yo!” Piper said. “Didn’t see you there. What’s up?” she asked, noting the look on Yo-yo’s face.
“You guys are coming with me to check out a site in the hills. The scanners detected some sort of unknown energy,” Yo-yo said. “We leave in twenty.”
“On it, we’ll be there,” Piper mumbled to Yo-yo, who had already left the room.
“Well, that was cryptic,” Davis said. “Something really weird must be going on.” He finished his water and looked up at the ceiling. “You know Piper, it could be a dinosaur.”
“Davis, as cool as that would be, I’d better not see a dinosaur today.” Piper stood up and walked over to the door. “Come on, we have places to be.”