Forged In Hellfire

Part 1(Ch5)

The next morning, Emilie showers and heads to the lab. Robbie had left before she got up. She felt him get up when he woke. She walks into the lab and sees Fitz-Simmons talking to Coulson. They look over at her and then each other.
"Is everything ok? You're looking at me like I have some terminal illness." She pauses before nervously asking. "I'm fine, right?"
"Oh, yea, totally, it's umm..." Fitz fumbles.
"We may have found out how you got your powers..." Simmons hesitates.
Emilie looks at them, waiting for some kind of explanation.
"I looked into your parents' history and the fire. Your mom had a pretty standard trail leading back to birth records. Your grandparents passed away when she was 11 in a car wreck. She was taken in by an aunt who died 4 years later after a heart attack. She was able to live with a foster family until she graduated high school and attended a local college where she studied social services before becoming a social worker at a hospital."
"Ok...?" Wanting him to get to the point.
"And that's it. We have her leaving the same year she started working at the hospital. She just disappeared, presumably with your dad because there are absolutely no records of him. You said his name was Adrian Rami and there is a reference to him in the data we collected from the Watchdogs, but I got nothing. No birth records, no social security number, not so much as a utility bill with his name. It's like he didn't exist."
"Ok, my dad was hiding and my mom went with him. What is the source of my power?"
"The Divine." says Coulson.
Mac and Robbie come walking into the lab carrying a large component they pulled off one of the quinn jets and place it on the table.
"I still don't understand. Divine?"
Simmons pulls up an image on the computer. "The last mission Fitz came back with this."
"A feather?" Emilie ask sarcastically, still not sure of the point.
"An angel feather." Simmons confirms.
"The Watchdogs were sacrificing Angels." Says Coulson.
Mac catches wind of the conversation. "Wait a minute..."
"It was a long shot, but the genetic material collected matches with data from major historical events believed to be fought by angels." Informs Fitz.
"You guys have proof?...That angels existed?" Emilie questions.
"And not to mention your blood." Explains Fitz.
"What about my blood?"
"About 13% of the world's population are RH negative..." Starts Simmons.
"I'm a nurse, you don't have to explain blood to me." Interrupts Emilie.
"It was believed, in ancient times, to be due to alien, or angel, human conjugation. Have you ever in your life been sick?"
"No." Replies Emilie.
"No cold? No runny nose? No allergies?"
"No. Not that I remember..."
"Because you can't. We exposed your cells to several diseases, cancer cells, sickle cell, HIV, ebola...Your cells destroyed them all. People who are RH negative are not better or worse than people who are RH positive, but if that theory was true and angels did mate with humans at some point, they would have generations of genetic diluting making them more human and only leaving residual traces of their 'divine' heritage. YOU are DIRECTLY descended from an angel."
Simmons walks over and pulls the small bandage off Emilie's forehead from the day before. "You even heal faster than a normal person." Emilie's cut was almost completely healed with no scabbing or scaring.
Mac interrupts. "So, your saying she's half angel?"
"Your what ancient society would call a Nephilim." Says Simmons.
Robbie starts to steam from under his collar. He stretches his neck from side to side trying to stop from transforming. He quickly walks out of the room. Emilie walks after him. "Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine. I just need to get some air." He quickens his pace and heads towards the garage. Emilie lets him go and gives him space.
Robbie speeds out of HQ, Charger fully enflamed. He drives for hours before stopping near the coastline. He gets out and yells. Ash and tinder expelling from his lungs.
"I don't know what's got you all worked up, but nothing has changed." He says to the Rider. He senses him inside. "You don't get to change the rules." He feels his skin burning away and falls to his knees yelling.
Later that night Emilie is laying in bed fidgeting with her phone worrying about Robbie. He returns and walks straight into his sleeping quarters. She gets up and walks over to check on him after hearing him go into the room.
"Robbie?" She calls. He doesn't respond and she checks his door to find it locked, so she walks back to her room and lies awake until she finally dozes off.
Quake finds Emilie the next day, in the cafeteria looking through some pages in a file.
"Whatcha got there?" She asks.
"Everything Fitz found on my parents. He even found a few photos of my mom when she was younger." Emilie hands her the photos.
"You favor her a lot." Quake says handing them back. "I haven't seen you two love birds together today."
Emilie turns flush.
"You guys aren't exactly low key." Quake informs her. "It's kind of cute, seeing him around you. He's different when you're around. More... I don't know...Human." Quake grabs an apple off the counter. "I''ll let you get back to your family history. If you need anything I'll be around."
Emilie walks to the garage later that morning to find Robbie working on his car.
"Everything okay?" She asks.
"Everything's fine. Just needed to get my hands dirty."
"I'm asking about you, not the car."
"I'm fine." He replies back sharply.
"No. You're not." She walks over and places a hand on his shoulder. He lets out a sarcastic laugh.
"I said I'M...FINE. Don't act like you know me so well."
"Don't I? Robbie, how long have we been together?" She asks pulling her hand away, frustrated with his attitude.
He laughs again. "How long have we been together?" He turns and looks at her. "We were never 'together'. I'm sorry if that was the impression you got. We've 'been together'," He confesses, referencing their joy ride. "But we were never really 'together'."
She looks into his eyes and there is a rage she's never noticed before. "Is this Robbie speaking or the Rider?"
He smiles "We're one in the same chica."
She searches his face for some sign of remorse. Something to show her he doesn't really mean what he is saying.
"You know you're right." She says mocking him. "We were never really together. We were just pretending to be normal, right?"
She pauses waiting for a response from him but doesn't get one. He continues tinkering around with his engine. She can't contain her anger anymore. She grabs his shoulder and turns him towards her. Her stare icy and piercing. "You know, for someone wanting to hold on to their humanity, you sure don't have a good grip right now."
He steps up close to her causing her to step back against a wall. He slams his hands on the wall behind her and says.
"Fuiste fácil. You were easy mami."
She slaps him and stomps off. She walks past Quake on her way back to her room.
"Hey..."
"Not now," Emilie says not stopping.
She rounds one of the corners and bumps into Mae. "Sorry." She says not making eye contact. She tries to keep walking and Mae grabs her.
"Hey, you alright?" she asks.
"I will be." Her face and eyes red as she fights back tears.
Mae takes a good look at her and knows something is wrong. "Come with me." She walks Emilie over to the sparing room.
"You're angry about something. And I'm just going to assume it's about Robbie." She slides over a punching bag. "Here. I'd like you to meet Robbie."
Emilie manages to pull off a smile.
"Go on, give him your best shot. It'll make you feel better." Insists Mae.
Emilie hits the bag.
"Is that it? You seemed pretty angry a minute ago." Encourages Mae.
Emilie hits it again even harder.
"There you go. He can take it. Now stagger your stance and put some force behind it."
She hits the bag again, and again, and again. Mae moves the bag out of the way. "Hit me."
Emilie, breathing heavy, looks at her confused.
"Don't worry, you won't land anything." Reassures Mae.
Emilie and Mae start to spar against each other, while Mae gives her a few pointers.
"Feeling any better?" She asks.
Emilie nods while trying to catch her breath.
"I knew you would." Mae hands her a towel to wipe off. "You're not too bad. Have your share of fights?"
"One or two. Being a foster, you're not always welcomed by other kids."
Coulson comes in to let them know they got the green light to head to the Watchdog compound that was located about 4 hours away from HQ.
Emilie returns to her room and hears a knock on the door. She expects to see Robbie with an apology, but instead it's Quake.
"Hey, I came by to check on you. You ok?" She asks.
"Yea, just got into a little fight."
"Well, I came to bring you this." Quake hands her some clothes. "It's a uniform for you. Fitz-Simmons designed it, just in case you need to use your powers. It also has a built-in tracking device in the event something should happen. Which hopefully won't." She turns to leave. "If you need anything. To talk or something, I'm here."
Emilie thanks her and tries on her uniform. She tags along on Zephyr One, for the mission and sees Robbie on the jet. He glances over at her, but neither speaks. She follows Quake to the intel room where they all gather to hear what the mission is about. Coulson informs them that there is an unknown energy reading in an abandoned steel mill. There have been signs of a heavy Watchdog presence but nothing out of the normal. He instructs Fitz to jump start and tap into the security feed while the other's do a search of the facility to find out what is going on.
"I want you to stay and help Simmons. I know your not a SHIELD agent, but we could really use an extra set of eyes from above." Requests Coulson to Emilie.
She turns to leave and head to the lab with Simmons as the team deploys down to the steel mill in a transport cube. Emilie and Simmons keep track of the teams' COMs and video feed.
"How are we looking?" asks Coulson
"Everything is holding up so far. Your going to want to move to the North East of the facility. That seems to be where the energy signature is coming from. But be careful because it looks like that area is also where they kept a lot of forging equipment. They may have some booby traps set up if they thought we were on to them." Says Simmons.
The teams split into three groups. Mac and Fitz head to the opposite end of the facility towards the security office. Robbie and Coulson take one corridor leading to the North East end and Mae and Quake head the same direction down another corridor.
"It sure is quiet." Says Mae.
"Everyone keep your eyes peeled. We know they're here." Coulson replies.
Fitz and Mac enter the security office and start setting up.
"Aw hell," says Fitz. "We have a problem."
"And what would that be?" asks Coulson.
"There's no power here." Says Mac looking over an electrical panel.
"What do you mean no power? We tracked a surge of energy coming from inside this facility."
"Yes, Coulson, I know, but that's just it. It's an isolated energy source it's not tied into the actual building. The lines are dry. You're going to have to see if there is a main breaker switch in the control room."
Emilie and Simmons look over the blueprints to find the building's main control room.
"It's a big facility, with two control rooms just west of your location. There is no telling which one will provide power to the security office or what kind of Watchdog resistance you'll encounter once the power is on." Says Simmons.
"Looks like were going in blind." Says Mae.
"Hang on." Instructs Emilie. She looks to Simmons. "How much power would it take to run a building that that size?"
"I don't know, I guess it would depend how much of its systems were running and how long."
"Fitz if I came down 'charged' do you think you could use me to help power the security system without drawing any attention?" Asks Emilie.
"Yea, probably...You're going to need to hold 2-3 AMPS to maintain a strong enough current into the building for it to work." He replies.
"Are you sure your up to this?" Asks Simmons.
"No." Interrupts Robbie. "Stay there. If they're looking for you it's safer for you there, in the lab."
"I agree." Confirms Coulson. "It's too risky."
"And so is going into an ambush blind." She looks to Simmons. "Let's try out this suit."
Simmons connects a backup generator for the jet to two contact points on her suit. Within minutes she is carrying 3 AMPs worth of electricity.
"Feeling sick?" Inquires Simmons.
"No actually. I feel pretty good."
"The fibers of the suit should insulate the charge keeping that uncomfortable feeling you had before down to a minimum."
She sends a field agent down with Emilie to Fitz and Mac's location. When they get there, Mac strips the lines for the security cameras. He connects the lines to the same contact points Simmons used to charge the suit. Soon Fitz has direct feed into the facility's cameras.
"It's working." He says. "I got eyes on your locations...oh...that's not good."
Mac, who is keeping watch by the door looks at Fitz. "What? What's not good?"
"It looks like teams of six are closing in on your location."
Mae and Quake encounter the first team. Quake sends out a sonic wave knocking the soldiers back before her and Mae finish them off. Coulson and Robbie handle the team on their end. Robbie removes the chain he was carrying across his chest and ignites it. They take out the Watchdogs, but not before the last one lands a hit on Coulson. He punches the soldier back with his robotic hand knocking him out.
"Fitz, when we get back maybe you can upgrade this thing with some cooler gadgets." Coulson requests, referring to his hand.
"Sure, Inspector Gadget." Replies Fitz.
"I was thinking something more along the lines of James Bond."
"You're definitely more of a Gadget." Radios Mae.
The team moves deeper into the mill.
"Everyone good?" asks Mae
"We're good." says Coulson.
"How you holding up there, Em?" asks Mac.
"I'm good." She replies.
"Uh, guys. I think we have another problem. There's a guy in a suit." Says Fitz, sounding confused.
"A suit?" asks Quake.
"Yes, a suit...like...like...oh hell he's heading your way."
The two teams come to a 4-way cross section and are met by a tall man with jet-black hair wearing a black suit.
"Who are you?" asks Coulson.
"I'm Gideon. It's good to meet you agent Coulson."
"I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Surprised the man knew his name.
"No, but I believe we will be seeing more of each other in the future." He replies.
"Well I'm here now. Why don't you tell me what it is you're doing here? You're a little over dressed, or were you looking to make a good first impression with me?"
"You have something that I've been looking for." Says Gideon smoothly.
"Emilie." says Robbie.
"And what do you want with her? What's she to you?" Inquires Coulson.
"A key..." He replies.
"Uh, Coulson, can you hear me? We just lost feed." Radios Fitz.
"I can still feel an electrical charge..." Informs Emilie.
"No, it's the cameras they're fried." Says Fits.
"Fitz, Mac, get Emilie out right now." Orders Coulson.
A strong breeze comes rushing through the hallway and Gideon vanishes. Emilie disconnects the cables and Fitz grabs his computer equipment. Mac steps out of the door with the agent who traveled down with Emilie just as a group of Watchdog soldiers comes around the corner. They fire a few shots and hit the agent. Mac grabs the him by his vest, drags him back in, and closes the door.
"We ain't getting out that way. There's a team heading this way." They push a desk up against the door as the Watchdog team tries to breach.
"Guys we're gonna need a little help." Radios Mac.
"We're on our way." Responds Mae.
It doesn't take long for the Watchdog team to take down the door. Mac and Fitz try their best to fight them off. Emilie walks over and touches one of the soldiers sending a jolt of electricity through him rendering him unconscious, and another shoots her with a tranquilizer. She starts to feel its effects instantly as she stumbles towards the soldier and grabs ahold of him just before losing her balance. All the electricity is expelled from her body sending a shockwave throughout the room. Fitz and Mac fly back as she falls to the ground. Mae and Quake enter the room seconds later.
Quake helps Emilie up. "Let's get you out of here."
Emilie looks around the room as she stands. She sees the soldier she grabbed on the ground dead with burn marks across his face. "Fitz...Mac...?" She tries to call out dizzily searching the room with her eyes.
"We're good," says Mac. "Let's get you out of here."
They make it back to the transport cube and Emilie heads back to Zephyr One with Fitz, leaving the remaining team members to help Coulson and Robbie find out what Gideon was doing in the mill. Emilie stumbles back into the lab with Fitz's help.
"Is everyone ok?" She asks. Everything around her feels like it's moving.
"Yes, but our mystery guest has disappeared." Says Simmons.
"What do you mean disappeared?" She asks.
"Poof, a flash of light and he was gone."
"I think I'm gonna be...sick." They sit her on a specimen table right before she blacks out.