Redback Widow V I Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. [16]

A Life Earned

"What are you doing here?" Coulson asked May as I unloaded scrap onto a table.

"They shut down all the Trawler flights. No idea why," she answered.

"So now they even have the pilots working as crushers, I guess. That's a little slang I picked up here. Crusher. It's when you--" he said. I zoned out most of their conversation, focusing on my work.

All of a sudden, electricity started pumping through my veins. "You're not here to stand around and gossip," Grill leered.

"I wasn't talking--why me?" I demanded.

"'Cause, you're big and tough. Makes it funnier. Keep working! Big man downstairs is entertaining. An intergalactic auction means that we have to provide more iron for Kasius to sell off. So we are working triple shifts," I shot a withering glare at Grill as the pain subsided. "Hey, I answer to the fat cat Blues, same as you. Only I have to go and explain to them why we aren't meeting our quotas. So make sure we do by the end of the day. Except you. You're with me," he pointed at Mack, beckoning him over.

Shit. This wasn't good.

-

"So we gotta go rough up this guy Gunner. Yeah. Makes about as much sense as anything else in this place," Mack muttered.

"Maybe you and Asya can just talk to him. Avoid the all-out assault," Coulson suggested.

"Both of us?" I asked.

"I'm already missing two agents. I'm going with Mack's philosophy that we stick together here," he said.

"Finally," Mack commented.

"As long as you're back before Grill, we should be fine. And it gives us an opportunity," he said.

"Yeah. That's you and me," May said.

"Yep. Grill just tipped us off to level thirty-five--Kree technology? We have to check that out," he said.

"We have no weapons, no intel," May pointed out.

"Well, I'm hoping level thirty-five gets us an edge, or at least something that will help us survive on the surface till we can find Virgil's radio pal," he said.

"You got access to a secure floor?" Mack asked.

"No, but...I think I know a guy,"

-

"Is that Gunner?" I asked, nodding to the guy in front of us.

"That's Gunner," Mack confirmed. "Try to walk casual."

"If you can see me, that's me walking casual," I pointed out.

"That's fair. But try not to do anything rash," he said.

"Do you wanna talk about it or make not very subtle comments all day?" I questioned. "Spit it out, Черепаха."

"So, we're beating people up now? It's bad enough what we've already done," he said.

"You're talking about Grill's right-hand man. I did it to save lives, your life," I said.

"Yeah. Now the guy's dead," he muttered.

"And I'm sorry about that, but I'd choose you over him every time. A life for a life. That's how this place works," I told him.

"As soon as we're alone, we are going to have a lengthy conversation about your morals," he commented.

"I'm sure we are," I muttered.

"I just don't want us losing ourselves down here. Look what happened to Fitz in the Framework," he said.