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

Chapter Eighteen: Providence

The situation room at the Hub was once more populated with agents, working to rebuild in the aftermath of the Hydra Uprising. On the floor-to-ceiling screens were reports from Washington, D.C., relating the nation's response.

"Today, world leaders are scrambling for answers after the world's most advanced spy agency was crippled by a series of attacks. The president contends this is the biggest intelligence leak in world history. But what's even more disturbing is that the documents released from S.H.I.E.L.D. show clear evidence of human experimentation, stockpiles of WMD, all concealed by a massive cover-up. With world security at stake, officials everywhere are calling for S.H.I.E.L.D.—"

"Sir?"

From where she was in the centre of the room, watching the report with a heavy heart, Genevieve glanced over, seeing a female agent approach Coulson as he entered. "Find Agent Martin," he ordered. "We need a back-channel to the UN, someone we trust." He continued over to her, handing her a mug of coffee.

"Thanks."

"How's it looking?" he asked, nodding towards the screens.

She shook her head, sighing. "Bad. Looks like Hydra's done what it set out to. S.H.I.E.L.D. is collapsed, the leaked files mean the United States Government is probably never gonna trust us again, and all the while they're free to do whatever the hell they want."

"Great," he said sarcastically. "Any good news?"

"I'm walking," she offered. He glanced down at her leg, the stitches on her wound visible. "Yeah, that's literally it for good news. Sorry."

Skye entered, walking up to them with a tablet. "I made a list of S.H.I.E.L.D. bases we believe are secure."

"How many so far?" Coulson asked. "Seven?"

She hesitated. "Three."

Coulson and Genevieve both looked at her, stunned. "Plus the Hub, right?" Genevieve assumed.

"Including the Hub," Skye corrected. She winced as they shared a worried look. "It's a preliminary list. I'm sure more will turn up."

Genevieve turned back to the report, sighing. "Members of Congress are calling for an investigative panel, but it's still unclear who should be held accountable. Many of its leaders have vanished, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. fractured and powerless."

"You were right all along," Skye said, looking at Coulson. "Having all this out there in the world makes it too dangerous, and now... there's no one left to protect it."

"There's us," Coulson told her, determined. "We were lucky enough to make it through. The Triskelion, the Hub... those battles are just the beginning of this war. Hydra's out there now, but at least our team's still intact. We can fight them, and we will."

***

"You need to replace the grounding wires," Simmons called as Fitz worked on repairing the closing mechanism on the Bus' cargo ramp.

"There's no time," he told her, not looking up. "Ramp needs to be repaired by the end of the day, Coulson's orders."

Simmons scoffed. "What, are they even proper orders? S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been destroyed, Fury's dead. Aren't they just requests?"

"Well, either way, I'm in the middle of it." He held a hand out. "Stator, please."

"Well, he's certainly not taking orders from anyone," she continued, bringing the tool over. "We have no jurisdiction now that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been labelled a terrorist organisation."

"Powers that be will sort it out. All we can do is fix one thing at a time. Starting with this servo drive."

"Yeah, you're right. However, you will need to replace those grounding wires."