Blood of the Covenant |1| The Dark Waters Series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Chapter Sixteen: End of the Beginning

The coming together of some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most superior agents came in the form of a helicarrier, the Bus parked on top. As Agents Sitwell, Blake, Hand, Garrett and Triplett boarded the Bus via the cargo hold, Coulson came through the lab to meet them.

"You realise, Agent Coulson, they have these things called teleconferences now," Hand said pointedly.

"Nice to see you too, Agent Hand," Coulson returned cheerfully. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice."

"A little unconventional meeting this way, isn't it?" Sitwell commented.

"Oh, from the reports I've read, 'unconventional' seems to be Coulson's middle name these days," Blake told him.

Garrett shot Coulson a grin. "Fight breaks out, let me take Blake. He's coy, but scrappy." Blake scoffed.

"I'll explain everything as soon as we hit fifty thousand feet," Coulson told them. "This way." He headed for the spiral staircase, the others following.

***

A little while later, May joined them in the living area, nodding to Coulson. "Cruising altitude reached, bearing ninety degrees just over the north pole."

"Thank you." He turned to the rest of the agents. "Apologies for the song and dance, but we brought you here as a precaution."

"A precaution against what?" Sitwell asked.

"The Clairvoyant," Coulson told him. "If there is someone out there who can read minds, at least up here we're as far away from him as possible."

Garrett shrugged. "Figure maybe the northern lights will knock a few bars off his psychic wifi."

Blake frowned. "Coulson, you know S.H.I.E.L.D.'s stance on psychics, they don't exist."

"Are you suddenly a believer?" Hand asked.

Coulson tilted his head. "Not definitively. But I had a recent experience with an Asgardian who could bend people's will with her voice. Forced me to open my mind, so to speak."

"All we know for sure is the Clairvoyant has been a step ahead of us, stealing plays from our playbook," Garrett explained.

"And it's pissing me off," Coulson added. "I take it you've all read Agent Garrett's latest report?"

"The hit on the safe house," Sitwell nodded. "Mr Peterson's alive and kicking."

"We call him Deathlok," May told him.

"It was the project's codename," Ward clarified.

Trip nodded. "Agent Garrett and I have been tracking him the last few weeks."

"We think the Clairvoyant's supersoldier bodyguard came after us for a reason," Garrett said. "We're getting close."

"To what?" Hand asked. "His identity?"

Garrett and Coulson shared a look. "We've narrowed the list to thirteen candidates."

"Narrowed it down?" Blake echoed. "From what?"

"Agent Garrett has been taking a second look at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gifted Index, specifically the rejects," Coulson explained. "Individuals S.H.I.E.L.D. interviewed who were believed to have psychic abilities but were ultimately dismissed."

"So you think we've encountered the Clairvoyant before?" Sitwell assumed.

Coulson shrugged. "Think how many cases we've encountered across the globe, how many cases we vetted. It's more than possible, it's probable."