Chapter Text
Davis stopped the car at the base of Hollywood Hills. “According to Koenig, the source is up the hill, but I can’t exactly drive the car up there,” he said.
“You two search up the path,” Yo-yo said, pointing above them. “I’ll take everywhere else. Have your icers ready, we don’t know what could be out there.” She took out her gun and stuck another round in her back pocket.
“Will do,” Piper responded. Yo-yo’s team was prepared, so she trudged up the ridge alone, leaving Piper and Davis at the bottom.
“So, I guess we go then?” Davis asked.
“Yep,” Piper said. She loaded her icer and the two started to make their way up the path.
*****
Yo-yo had been searching for almost an hour and hadn’t found anything unusual yet. However, she had visited the Hollywood sign, so that was something. From her location at the top, she could run to the edge of the area in any direction in less than a second. But even with super speed, the mission seemed to be pointless. Sighing, she decided to walk back to the van a different way, just in case.
A few minutes into her descent, she came across a grate in the hill. She’d encountered it during her search, of course, but didn’t think it was strange enough to possibly explain what was happening. But now that she saw it up close, it occurred to her that she could have been wrong. After all, why would someone bother to build a grate into the side of a mountain, and why would it be large enough for several people to climb through?
Yo-yo grabbed the sides of the grate with her metal fingers and pulled. Much to her surprise, it came away easily. The screws were still in the grate, but the holes in the base were stripped of their ridges, meaning someone else had been here before, someone strong enough to pull a 50-pound piece of metal and 10 heavy-duty screws out of the side of a mountain.
Behind the opening was a dark tunnel, a floor of splintered wood, but Yo-yo could see a dim, warm glow coming from the end. She pointed her icer ahead and was about to enter when a loud roar pierced the calm hills, followed by loud cursing from Piper. Yo-yo took one last look a the tunnel and started running.
*****
Piper was bored. Sure, it was great to get out of the base, but this was pointless. She and Davis had been inspecting grass and rocks for way longer than anyone ever should. She was hot, tired, and just wanted to go back.
“Hey, Davis,” she said, “let’s go back to the car. I’m done.”
“Thank God,” he breathed. “I didn’t know L.A. would be so frickin hot.” They started the trek back to the car, and Piper was so tired and relieved that she didn’t notice Davis stop in front of her. She ran into him and looked ahead to see the reason why he had stopped.
“Holy shit,” she said, so low it was almost a whisper. On the path in front of them, two scaly clawed feet dragged across the dirt. Muscled legs carried a heavy body with short arms and a long tail. Piercing orange eyes stared at Piper and a silver nose ring reflected the waning sunlight. The creature’s mouth opened to reveal a row of sharp, yellow teeth, and bellowed out a long roar.
“Holy shit,” Piper repeated, much louder this time. “Shit, Davis, shit. When I said I didn’t want to see a dinosaur today, I meant it.” They pointed their icers at the dinosaur and started firing, but it wasn’t going down. It lumbered closer, its steps becoming increasingly unsteady, but it wasn’t stopping. The dino was now only a few hundred yards away when they ran out of ammo.
“Piper, it was nice knowing you,” Davis said.
“You too. I didn’t think being eaten by a raptor was how I was going to go, but it had to happen sometime.”
The dinosaur was almost to them when it fell forward, its legs stopped in the dirt. When the dinosaur hit the ground, dust flew up, covering everyone and everything in the vicinity.
“Wow,” Yo-yo said from inside the dust cloud. “That’s a big lizard.” She dropped the dinosaur’s tail, which she had used to stop it, and fired the contents of her icer at its head. The dino groaned and then passed out, the side of its face a fading blue from the dendrotoxin.
“Okay, now that I’m not in danger of dying anymore,” Piper said, still breathing heavily,” what the hell was that?”
“I don’t know, Yo-yo replied. “For now, let’s report back to H.Q., but we need to call in the rest of the team.”
*****
“Okay, on my way,” Mack said, and then hung up the phone. May had been cryptic in her call, only saying that Yo-yo had found something and they needed all hands on deck in Los Angeles. Mack went to the lab first to see if Fitzsimmons had discovered anything important.
“Hey,” Mack said to Fitz and Simmons, who were huddled around a monitor. “You found anything yet?”
“Not exactly-” Simmons began.
“Yes,” Fitz said. Mack looked at him, curious. “Well, not really, but it’s a start.”
“It’s actually multiple signatures layered over each other, but we haven’t found a way to track them individually yet,” Simmons added.
“Can you figure it out on the way?” Mack asked. “They need us in L.A.”
“Uh, yeah, we can do that, right?” Fitz responded, looking at Jemma.
“Yes, we just need time to pack up the equipment, shouldn’t take too long,” she said.
“Great. Meet you on the Quinjet when you’re done.” Mack then left the lab, leaving Fitzsimmons to puzzle over what he had said.
“What’s happening?” Jemma asked Fitz rhetorically. “We’ve been given limited information for missions before, but nothing’s ever been this vague.”
“I don’t know, but based on personal experience, it can’t be good.”
*****
Mack found Daisy in her bunk. She was re-reading the letter Coulson left yet again and had obviously been crying, judging from the tear tracks on her face. Mack knocked on the doorframe, and when she saw him, she tried to compose herself.
“Hey,” she said, putting on a faltering smile. “Did you hear back from May and Yo-yo yet?”
“I did, and that’s why I came, but I’m also here to see a friend.”
“I- I’m fine I guess.”
“I’m sorry, but you don’t look fine,” Mack said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to her.
“I just really miss him. I thought I was better, but today everything just hit me again. I keep trying to let go, and honestly just try to forget it all, but it will never really go away.”
“No. It won’t,” Mack said, pausing afterward. “I know this is the last thing I should be advocating for, but I have a distraction if you need it.”
“What is it?”
“She was really cryptic about it, but May said Yo-yo found something big in Los Angeles. They need us to go help. Fitzsimmons is already on the jet if you want to come.”
Daisy didn’t respond so Mack assumed she was going to say no. She drew in one last rattly breath, and said, “When do we leave?”