The Avenger's Soul

Seeds (Part 2)

Skye's POV

I chatted with the bartender while I waited for him to hand me a couple of beers. Once I had the information I needed I grabbed the beers and walked over to where Ward was leaning.

"Bartender seemed chatty," commented Ward as he rolled his eyes.

"He's in computer sciences. Didn't take long to convince him I was a Level 7 CS operative. And guess where I'm stationed, The Sandbox."

"Good thinking." Wow, was that a compliment?!

"I asked if any of the cadets had hopes on getting assigned there," I told Ward, who nodded his understanding. "Behind me, the curls."

Ward scanned the room and focused on Callie playing pool.

"Callie Hannigan, ambitious, gunned hard for getting assigned to The Sandbox. And apparently word's gotten around she lost the top spot," I filled him in.

"She was at the pool."

"But didn't want to go in," I added with a raise of my brows.

Ward nodded at me with a grin before getting up to talk to Callie. I raised my hand up, realized with a grimace that I was holding a beer and with a grin, used my newly discovered powers to levitate a cranberry vodka from one of the tables into my hand without anyone noticing.

I sipped happily, still unable to enjoy the benefits of being drunk, but still appreciating the berry flavor over the taste of beer.

A few minutes later I listened worriedly as Simmons called Fitz to fill him in - apparently the attacks had been staged to draw the two scientists to campus. I had a really bad feeling.

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"How could I have been so stupid?" Fitz mumbled as Simmons and I walked next to him up the cargo ramp to meet Coulson and May.

"Fitz, will you stop?" Simmons said as Coulson and May approached us.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's my fault."

"Any word on the missing cadets?" Coulson responded, ignoring the apology.

"Ward's coordinating the search with Agent Weaver. They've set up a perimeter and are going building to building," Simmons filled in.

"Where did you guys go? We've been trying to reach you," I asked suspiciously. My brows raising further when I noticed Coulson glancing sideways at May before looking at me again.

"Not now," he responded, turning to look back to Fitz-Simmons. "How dangerous are they?"

"Extremely dangerous. This device turns any moisture around it to ice very rapidly at a great range."

"But Donnie's a good kid, just felt isolated. Seth must have befriended him to manipulate him, using him to finish the – the product."

"Product?" May asked.

It's like the thought occurred to Fitz as soon as he said the word product, he squeezed his eyes closed in anger.

"Okay, I think they have a backer. The device, the components are incredibly rare and expensive. Nothing either of them could find on the open market themselves."

"If the parts are that rare, we can trace the purchases!" I said.

"Sometimes it's not a bad seed, just a bad influence. Let's go," commented Coulson.

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"We were worried about bad influences? He's the worst there is," I said, glaring at the picture before me as I had flashbacks.