J.U.M.P.: Aftershocks

[thanku4urlove]

Title: J.U.M.P.: Aftershocks
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Some Keito/Yuto, gen mostly
Rating: PG/PG-13
Warnings: superpowers,
Genre: AU, Action, Sci-fi I suppose
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Now that Hikaru is on the plane and Inoo is out of confinement, there are a lot of things staying quiet that are begging to be said. Unfortunately, the uncomfortable silences aren't broken until an extraction mission rendering a concerning object is brought aboard.
A/N: Here it is! The last installment of my S.H.I.E.L.D. AU. I really like this universe, honestly. This was so much fun to do! Whether it'll actually stay here, I'm not sure the show is crazy right now, holy wow but for now, I'd like to give focus to other things. And yes, I realize that this should have been a multichap instead of a series of oneshots that's really just a multichap anyway (I'll be putting them all under the same tag, so they're easier to find together) but I dunno. This happened instead. I have a huge multichap coming out next week anyway. Huge thank you to everyone that read this AU, and I hope you enjoy it!
The Thanks For Making My 70th Banner Award goes to ryosukekoibito! *throws confetti*





“And you've got the retrieval coordinates?” Yabu walked quickly from the shiny Headquarters doors, pressing his phone to his ear with his shoulder. Two black cars were waiting for him in the parking lot, seeing Takaki offer up a peace sign from the front of one, while Daiki pressed his face to the driver side window in the other. Yabu waved at him.
      “One sec... Got ‘em. Though... By the looks of it, there's no point in you guys coming back to the quinjet.”
      “What?” Yabu frowned, coming to a stop in front of the car. Daiki opened the door for him, but he didn’t get in. There was the sound of typing, then Inoo spoke again.
      “You'd probably get there faster on wheels than through the air. And there aren't many places to land near the area, either; it'd probably be better overall to just drive.”
      “We need to get the jet out of the HQ base though.” Yabu argued, feeling the need to drop his voice a bit. “As soon as we can.”
      “Trust me, I get it.” Inoo fell silent again, obviously thinking. “Just... We'll get into the air and get it somewhere close to where you all are going. I already transmitted the coordinates to both cars, so go ahead to the retrieval site and we'll let you know where we end up. Yuto and Chinen are more than capable of holding down the fort until you finish up.”
      Yabu knew Inoo was right, but he still felt uneasy as he hung up, stepping up and sitting in the driver's seat. The feeling was nothing new, unfortunately; he felt as though he'd been uneasy for weeks, when in reality it had really only been a day or two.
      Hikaru had come back with them from Italy. In the midst of everything else, the team had forgotten about the tracker on their plane, so Hikaru had followed them to the church easily, and it was lucky he had. He wasn’t there because he knew about the mission, he told them later, saying he'd given thought to what Yabu had told him about joining the possibly team.
      “If S.H.I.E.L.D. are after powered people, I’d be able to help more of them.” He’d said, “Though… I realize what kind of a position this puts you in. I’m sorry.”
      It was ironic, Yabu felt, how aggressively S.H.I.E.L.D. were looking for Hikaru, when in truth he was sitting in the bay of their organization-issued quinjet. And he would have found it funnier if he hadn’t just lied through his teeth to his superiors for the second time in a row. He felt a bit better about this secret than the one he was keeping about Inoo, but--and the whole team agreed--letting Hikaru work out his method for approaching HQ would give him a better chance than throwing him to the wolves. Under Yuto’s supervision, of course.
      The meeting that took them to that conclusion brought with it the discussion about what to do with Inoo. Yabu knew it was something they needed to talk about, but he’d been trying to avoid as long as possible because it was something he hated to think about. When they’d returned to the plane with Hikaru in tow and found Inoo with Chinen in the lab though, he knew it needed to happen. So they’d talked. It was agreed on that they needed Inoo, something evident after the mission they’d just completed, and they couldn’t keep him locked up. So Inoo was freed.
      Sort of. Inoo was under Chinen’s custody. Himself and his actions needed to be visible to Chinen at all times until he was fully trusted again, though no one knew when that would be. Chinen was the best person for this, Yabu supposed, because they were constantly together and running away from Chinen would be literally impossible. Thankfully, Chinen had agreed.
      “So, what exactly are we doing?” Takaki asked once they all had their comms in. Yabu suppressed a sigh.
      “We’re going on a bit of a drive.” He told them. “Delivering the Gravitonium put us back in the green; we’ve been dispatched. The coordinates have been delivered to your car already.”
      “We’re closeby.” Yamada remarked, and Yabu nodded.
      “That’s why we’re driving.” He said. They were broken up into two cars. Keito and Takaki were in one, Takaki behind the wheel. Yabu was in the second one,with Yamada and Daiki, putting himself in charge of watching both of them, though it was mostly Daiki he was worried about, the little fireball of an agent still in recovery from being knocked out against the ceiling of the Italian church. Yabu started up the car.
      “What is it that we’re after?” Keito asked.
      “Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.” Yabu said quickly.
      “More weird alien stuff?” Daiki asked.
      “Weird?” Yabu didn’t look at him. “No, not weird. It’ll be fine.”

The lab was quiet. Aside for the buzzing of the electronics or the click or two from Inoo’s nails against the screen of his tablet, silence permeated throughout the room. And Chinen was going crazy.
      He told himself his upset restlessness was because of the silence, but in truth he wasn’t sure. He’d had this bizarre hope that when Inoo was out of his solitary confinement, things would just go back to normal, as though nothing had happened at all. The first few moments of being with Inoo again had felt normal, in the emergency state when Chinen needed his help in the Gravitonium mission. Inoo was on the comms and video feed and he himself was on the team’s vitals, making sure everyone got out alive. But not now. Now it was formal and silent and awkward and Inoo was sitting there, looking completely unbothered, so Chinen kept his emotions off of his face and did the same. They were supposed to be professional, after all. Inoo’s demeanor wasn’t insulting, or angering him in any way; it just put a small, sad twinge in his chest that he was trying to shove down. There was a lack of familiarity and a thick discomfort in the air, despite all of the years they had worked together. That was what hurt.
      “Where are Yuto and HIkaru?” Inoo asked, breaking the silence. He didn’t look up from his tablet though.
      “The cockpit?” Chinen guessed, turning to the plane’s security cameras to look. Yuto was supposed to be steering the plane. “We’re going to land soon.”
      He was right, and after getting a confirmation Inoo simply nodded. The plane landed smoothly, and after sending the rest of the team their location, all there was to do was wait for the mission to end so they could leave again. And usually Chinen liked all of this, liked watching the mission unfold and doing what he could to help. This time he couldn’t wait for this to be over.
      “We’ll let you know when we get to the retrieval site.” Daiki said, his voice piping up in over the radios.
      “We’ll be watching.” Inoo responded, and Chinen resisted the urge to begin pacing. He checked the security feed on the plane again, hoping that at least Hikaru and Yuto were doing something interesting, but they were just sitting around in the break room, talking. So he checked vitals again before switching to Takaki’s body camera, watching his fellow agent’s hands on the wheel as the car turned down a forest path.
      “Hey, Yabu never said what it was we’re after.” Inoo remarked after the longest three minutes of Chinen’s life.”Do you think he knows what it is?”
      “He’ll have been told enough.” Chinen responded with a shrug. “It probably isn’t anything we can’t handle at this point.”
      The following pause was so quiet that Chinen heart Inoo swallow.
      “This plane does have a good team on it.” Inoo concluded with a nod. He spoke in present tense, not past, which meant something, but there was a degree of separation in his voice that meant something else. Chinen opened his mouth to speak, biting his tongue when Takaki’s voice came over the comms.
      “This is happening way too damn often.”
      “What?” Chinen asked him, Inoo switching quickly through the body cameras. There was nothing wrong though, from what they could see; all that was around the team was trees.
      “We’re here, but nothing else is.”
      “Wait, you’re at the retrieval site?” Chinen asked. He clicked back to their original mission statement and frowned. Something didn’t look right. “Tell me those coordinates again.”
      Takaki did, and Chinen’s hunch was confirmed.
      “The coordinates have changed.” He said with a sigh. “What the hell--”
      “Daiki? Yabu?” The voice that cut him off was Yamada’s, extremely small and panicked. “Where… What?”
      “Yamada?” Chinen asked back. “Are you okay?”
      “Keito!” Yamada yelled.
      “Get me either Daiki or Yabu’s body cameras, they were in the car with Yamada, they’ll probably…” Chinen trailed off when he realized that Inoo wasn’t listening. Inoo wasn’t even there; the lab was empty except for him. But Chinen knew he hadn’t heard Inoo leave, a quick flip through the plane’s cameras letting him know that he was right. Inoo hadn’t left, but he wasn’t here, either.
      “Takaki? Daiki? Keito?”
      “Chinen?” It was Keito’s voice; he sounded as terrified as Yamada did. “I’m here, and Yamada’s here, but… Nobody else is. Even the cars are gone. They all disappeared.”
      “Yeah, Inoo’s gone too. And there’s still nothing at the retrieval site?” Chinen shifted his view to Keito’s body camera, and saw Yamada standing next to him. “Just stay there, hold on, and… I’ll try to contact the others.”
      But the comms didn’t even reach the other agents. It was like their communication system was down, but he knew for a fact that it wasn’t. He turned to the mission statement, checking it again. And as he watched, the coordinates for the retrieval point shifted. The lab door opened.
      “What’s going on?”
      Chinen turned. It was Hikaru, striding in and looking confused.
      “Yuto?” Chinen asked back.
      “I stood, turned, and he was gone. I thought that was weird, but I was hoping he was with you.”
    “He’s not. And Inoo’s gone too.”
    Hikaru pulled up a stool, walking over to sit next to Chinen, who was still watching the coordinates. They were shifting continuously now, the numbers turning slowly. Chinen grabbed a pen and paper, beginning to write them down.
    “You two still alright?” He asked quickly. Thankfully, Yamada and Keito both answered affirmatively; they sounded a little calmer now.
    “What are you doing?” Hikaru asked. Chinen ignored him though, staring down at the numbers. There had to be something. This had to make sense. And finally, it clicked.
    “We’re after a person.”
    “...what?” Hikaru asked. “What is that?”
    “The coordinates we were given are being sent to us through some sort of a GPS, not a set location. And they’re moving, moving southwest a little over six kilometers per hour, which is--.”
    “--a kilometer and a half faster than the average walking speed.” Hikaru finished. Chinen nodded.
    “Which is why the retrieval site is empty. It changed when we arrived.”
    “They’re running away.” Hikaru said quietly.
    “Our extraction object running away, and nearly the whole team is missing. It’s just me, you, Yamada, and… And Keito.” Chinen could tell he and Hikaru had the realization at the same time. “The Inhumans.”
    Chinen pushed the mic button harder than he needed to, asking quickly.
    “Do either of you have a pair of those handcuffs that I made?”
    Silence. Then,
    “Yeah.” Keito said. “I do.”
    “Good, good. So… You’re after an Inhuman, and whatever power they have is what’s made the rest of us--the members of our team that aren’t powered people--disappear like this. So we need to get those handcuffs on them, and then we’ll figure out how to get everybody else back. Alright?”
    “Alright.” Neither of the agents had much confidence in their voice, but Chinen didn’t comment on it.
    “You need to start heading southwest. At a bit of a jog--this person is walking quickly. I’ll let you guys know if they change their path or when you get close.”
    Chinen pulled his phone from his pocket as Yamada and Keito set off, dialing Yuto’s number.
    “S.H.I.E.L.D. sent you all to extract an Inhuman. What are they going to do with an Inhuman, going after him like this? How did they find them?”
    “I’m guessing they’re messing things up, messing things up at least enough to get on the radar.” Chinen held his phone up to his ear, listening to it ring. At least it was ringing. “So they’re going into a containment module on the plane, and we’re transporting them to HQ for a psychological evaluation and a check on their powers, how control they are, and what they’ve been using them for.”
    “And how they can be weaponized.” Hikaru grumbled, but Chinen didn’t say anything because he’d reached Yuto’s voicemail, sighing and hanging up.
    “I have eyes on him!” Came a voice. It was Keito. “It’s a young kid--though I think he’s taller than Yamada. He’s running; he keeps waving his hand at us.”
    “I don’t think his powers work on Inhumans, whatever it is he can do.” Chinen told him. “I wouldn’t worry too much, just cuff him so we can get our team back.”
    He and Hikaru watched it unfold on Keito’s body camera. Confusion slowed the boy’s feet enough for Yamada to speed up and circle around him, and after that it was easy for Keito to get him in cuffs. He did look surprisingly young, and the thought of turning his wide-eyed, fear-stricken face in to Headquarters without a clear explanation of what would happen to him made Chinen frown. He pushed the feeling away though, watching Keito put the cuffs around his wrist.
    Hikaru suddenly yelled, toppling the stool he was sitting on and crashing to the floor. The noise made Chinen jump horribly, and there was a curse next to them.
    “Hikaru, what the--?”
    It was Inoo, also looking quite startled, looking at him in shock. “When the hell did you get in here?”
    “Where have you been?” Hikaru asked him back, his voice still loud in surprise.
    “I’ve been here the whole time. The team just got to the extraction site, and--” Inoo turned to the screens, seeing Yamada and the Inhuman. He blinked, then looked at the tablet in his hands. “How is it already twenty minutes after three? I just…”
    He turned to Chinen, looking for answers, and Chinen understood instantly why this boy needed so urgently to be apprehended.
    “Time.” He sighed out, bending down to help Hikaru to his feet. “He can manipulate time.”
    “His name is Matsushima Sou.” Yamada reported. “He’s nineteen years old.”
    “Go ahead and bring him to the cars. They should be back by now.” Chinen said, and then his phone began to ring. It was Yuto.
    “Hey.” Yuto said once he picked up. “My phone says I have a missed call from you, but it never rang. Is Hikaru with you?”
    “Yeah, he’s in the lab. You should get in here too.”

“So now what? Do we just wait?” Hikaru asked. They’d just landed the plane, retreating from the cockpit to the break room for a more comfortable place to relax. Yuto nodded a little, watching as Hikaru nodded back and walked over to the couch, sitting down. Chinen and Inoo were in the lab, and the rest of the team were out on a retrieval mission. Yuto had a lot he wanted to say to Hikaru, and he knew that this moment was the opportunity he’d been looking for, but now that it was here, he wasn’t sure how to begin. He sat down next to Hikaru on the sofa, who gave him a surprised look.
    “I know you’re supposed to be supervising me, but you don’t need to supervise me this closely.” Hikaru told him. Yuto waved his hands a bit in apology.
    “No, I…”
    “Oh, sorry.” Hikaru gave him a slightly shrewd look. “You just looked uncomfortable, is all.” He paused. “You still look uncomfortable.”
        Yuto decided maybe he should scoot away, just a little.
    “What is it?” Hikaru asked him. “Is there something I should be worried about?”
    “No, it’s nothing like that. I wanted to talk to you.”
    “What about?”
     voice was casual, and for the most part the rest of him was too, but Yuto had been extensively trained in the reading of body language, and he spotted a few key muscles tensing up apprehensively, as though Hikaru was bracing himself for something. That made sense though; the last time they’d talked together one-on-one, Hikaru had shackled him to a chair in some cabin in the woods.
    “I wanted to thank you.”
    The tension drained instantly from Hikaru’s face.
    “Thank me?” He asked, surprised. Yuto nodded.
    “Yeah. Thank you for… For saving Keito the way you did. If you hadn’t jumped in there, he would have been shot in the head, I’m sure of it. And you risked your life, so… Thank you so much.”
    “It’s all in a day’s work.” Hikaru said, and while he was speaking rather flippantly, his face was genuine. “I mean, all of you were pinned to the wall, I couldn’t just watch. It took me a few moments to figure out what was going on; gravitonium is still a myth in the widespread science world, after all.”
    “How did you keep if from affecting you?” Yuto asked. A few of the teammates had been wondering that same thing, and ‘a few’ was mostly Takaki, who didn’t want to ask.
    “I’ve made a few small transportation devices; they helped me out a lot when I was on the run. I have these shoes that help me take really wide strides or jump high--I can’t fly, I’m too heavy, but it’s close--by funneling highly concentrated jets of air. I was able to use them to counteract the gravity enough to catapult myself in the right direction.”
    Yuto nodded a little, falling silent. The skateboard of Hikaru’s Inoo had dissected employed much of the same technology, so that made sense.
    “Do you think you could do that to Takaki’s motorcycle?” He asked. It was more of a joke than a serious request, and Hikaru laughed.
    “No harm in trying.” He said, and Yuto shook his head a little, laughing himself.
    “I don’t know, I think Takaki is in love with his motorcycle. He doesn’t like anyone else touching it. Yamada’s the only person allowed in the garage without clearing the reason with him because he’s got a garden in there.”
    “A garden?” Hikaru asked. “On a plane?”
    Yuto nodded. “It’s a bit of a zen, coping mechanism thing for him.” He explained. That’s what he’d assumed about it, anyway; he’d never asked. He didn’t really want to. “This ‘feeling emotions’ thing really affects him a lot.”
    “Does Keito have any coping mechanisms?” Hikaru asked. Yuto frowned for a moment, thinking.
    “I don’t think so. But Keito’s powers aren’t ‘on’ all the time, so to speak, so… It’s not really the same.” He said. “He’s been trying really hard to control himself. I’ve told him that he’s putting too much pressure on himself, but he’s insisting. He doesn’t want to accidentally hurt anyone.”
    Yuto knew that the ‘anyone’ Keito kept mentioning was him more often than not, because of Keito’s first training day, when he’d punched the wind out of Yuto and sent him sprawling backwards. It didn’t matter how many times Yuto explained that he’d let himself get hit; Keito had seen the bruise on his torso the next day and nearly started crying.
    “He’s too soft for all of this. Having so much strength in his body. He likes that our team is more stealth and retrieval than offense. He likes that we use tranquilizers instead of bullets. His powers make him feel dangerous.” Yuto reached into his pocket for his phone, clicking the volume buttons a few times just to give his fingers something to do. “It makes him feel…” Yuto resisted the word monster, getting to his feet to pace. “He’s worried he’ll do something he regrets.”
    “Do you think that if Yabu hadn’t pushed Keito to get back out there, he would be working through his abilities with a healthier mindset?” HIkaru asked. The question was asked innocently, but the implications behind it made Yuto’s throat suddenly feel much drier than it had a second ago.
    “Yabu didn’t push him, really.” He began. “Keito just…”
    He turned back to the couch, his voice dying in his throat. He was alone. Hikaru, who had asked him a question just a few seconds ago, was nowhere to be seen. His phone buzzed in his hand, looking down at it.
    1 Missed Call: Chinen Yuri
    “Chinen called me?” He muttered to himself. His phone hadn’t gone off at all, in his pocket or his hand, and he knew for a fact it wasn’t on silent. Chinen hadn’t left a message, so Yuto simply called him back.
    “Yuto?” Chinen asked when he answered.
    “Hey. My phone says I have a missed call from you, but it never rang.” Yuto looked around the empty break room again. “Is Hikaru with you?”
    Chinen sighed a little, and he sounded slightly exasperated.
    “Yeah, he’s in the lab. You should get in here too.”

Takaki had mulled over Chinen’s explanation of the events in the field three times now, but it wasn’t making any more sense than it had the first time. He hadn’t seen any sort of “time manipulation”, as the scientist had put it. Sure, Keito had somehow managed to make it to the other side of the car, with Yamada and a cuffed kid next to him--their acquisition, he learned. He’d just assumed that the kid had been in the trees, and while Takaki was assessing the situation too early, Keito had spotted and grabbed him.
    Not according to Chinen though. According to Chinen, the person was an Inhuman. That wasn’t the part Takaki doubted; that was easy enough to swallow. Chinen and Hikaru were both claiming that this Inhuman could distort time on all non-powered people, that they’d disappeared from each other’s realities because they no longer existed on each other’s timelines, and that the handcuffs he’d made had reconciled all of the time and zapped them back together again.
    Sure, he finally decided. No matter how many times he came in contact with things like time travel and alternate universes, they’d never made sense. He’d given up on the alien stuff a long while ago; what was one more thing he didn’t understand?
    “Kota, he is a child.” Hikaru, said, interrupting Takaki’s train of thought. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was his tone that caught Takaki’s attention. He sounded about as serious as a heart attack, and a little angry. “We can’t hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Have you seen him? How scared he looks?”
    They were all in the conference room, for the debrief after the mission. The main reason for it was Chinen and Hikaru’s explanation, but the conversation had shifted to the Inhuman, and what they were to do with him now.
    “He’s just been taken into the custody of the Japanese government for possessing the ability to control time.” Yabu said, his voice incredibly deadpan considering the ludicrous phrase that had just left his mouth. “Of course he looks scared. We’ve explained that no harm will come to him.”
    “But you can’t promise him that. You don’t have a high enough clearance level.” Hikaru’s voice had a hint of vindictive sarcasm. Takaki’s eyes flicked to Yamada, who had just shifted in his seat. The shorter agent’s lips were pursed, his arms folded over the tabletop, gripping his wrists tightly with his opposite hands. “I don’t want to just hand him over so he can be turned into a weapon.”
    The other Inhumans in the room were beginning to look uncomfortable too, though Takaki knew it probably had less to do with the emotions in the room like in Yamada’s case, and more the words the emotions were put behind.
    “Well we have to, because I already told S.H.I.E.L.D. that he’s here.” Yabu said. “They know we have him, and that he’s secure and unharmed. Which they were very pleased to hear, by the way.”
    “Yabu, the American government is rounding up Inhumans and killing them.” Hikaru said angrily, and Yamada pushed his chair back, getting to his feet and apologizing quietly before rushing from the room. Takaki wondered briefly if he should follow after him, a thought that many more of them had, Keito even lifting slightly out of his seat, but the meeting still wasn’t over.
    “But that’s not S.H.I.E.L.D.” Yabu responded, just as seriously. “S.H.I.E.L.D. are trying to find the murderer and stop him. Hikaru, the worst that’s going to happen to this kid is a psych eval and some time in confinement.”
    “And you don’t see anything wrong with that?” Hikaru asked, his voice pale with disbelief. Then his eyes hardened. “Fine. You can hand him in, but I’m going with him.”
    “Hikaru--” Yabu started, his voice loud, before cutting himself off. “...can we go and talk, please?”
    Hikaru considered the request for a few moments before consenting, following Yabu out the door. The silence behind them didn’t last long, a bit of chattering permeating the room as many people left, Takaki spotting Daiki, Keito, and Yuto all heading in the direction of the garage. Takaki got to his feet as Chinen walked out the door, realizing after a moment that it was only himself and Inoo left in the conference room, and that Inoo hadn’t made a single move to get up.
    “Are you… Are you alright?” Takaki asked. Inoo’s head shot up at the question, surprise on his face. If it was surprise that anyone was left in the room or surprise that he was being spoken to, Takaki couldn’t tell. Neither would surprise him; he himself hadn’t made an effort to talk to Inoo much since he’d been revealed as the mole inside their team. He was afraid of how weird it would be.
    “Me? Nah.” Inoo responded, his tone as nonchalant as ever, and somehow it wasn’t weird at all. Takaki sat back down. “This is all a bit of a trainwreck, isn’t it?”
    Though he sounded amused, Takaki could feel that it was a dry sort of amusement, and he nodded.
    “Only a little.” He admitted. “What do you think?”
    “About what?”
    “Everything?”
    Inoo raised an eyebrow at Takaki, who offered a small smile back. Inoo sighed and stretched.
    “Well, obviously, I can see both sides.” He said. “S.H.I.E.L.D. has been pushing a pro-Inhuman initiative since the terrigen outbreak, and while it leave a lot to be desired, it’s a start. Though we still don’t know entirely what their motives are. And we know that, but Hikaru doesn’t. We’ve got ‘intervention’ and ‘enforcement’ in our name after all, and S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t always this open and sheltering. I mean, we’re nothing compared to Hydra, but still.” He pursed his lips. “I just want to do what’s right by our teammates. All of us do, all at once, and since we all have a different opinion of what ‘right’ is, that makes it near impossible.”
    “So… So hold on.” Takaki was struck with a thought. “You were in training at the same time that Yabu and Hikaru were, right?”
    “You were too, for a little while.” Inoo told him. “They were moved to a separate complex though.”
    “Okay, but before that…” Takaki realized why, probably, that Yabu and Hikaru had been moved. “How much of this is being influenced by that incident?”
    “What, Yabu shooting his teammate?” Inoo asked, raising his second eyebrow now. Takaki swallowed.
    “Yeah, that.”
    “Probably most of Hikaru’s feelings, at least.” Inoo stretched lazily in his chair before getting to his feet. “Especially with Yabu being the face of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Hikaru’s eyes. Which is part of why Hikaru is trying to interfere, and… I understand that.”
    “Oh, okay.” Takaki said after a moment of thought. It made sense, and he told Inoo so, who turned and gave him a small smile.
    “Yeah?” He asked, and Takaki nodded, Inoo smiling again before slipping from the room and leaving him with his thoughts.

Yamada knew his roses didn’t need to be repotted, not really, but he was doing it anyway. He felt the leaves with his fingers, working slowly, breathing a little. He’d already pricked himself twice. The feeling of curiosity and concern preceded the door opening, and he looked up to see Hikaru walking in.
    “I was told that I would find you here.” He said, sitting down on the floor next to him.
    “Why were you looking for me?”
    “You left in the middle of the meeting, and I was the one doing the yelling…” Hikaru began, and Yamada pursed his lips. Everyone was so worried about him, treating him like he was fragile, and he hated it. On the other hand though, he knew they were only doing it because they cared for him, and while that was nice, it also made him mad at himself. He couldn’t just grit his teeth and bear it to keep from concerning his teammates.
    “It’s not your fault.” Yamada told Hikaru before he could continue. Hikaru raised his eyebrows.
    “It’s not your fault either.” Hikaru said. Yamada turned his attention back to his garden.
    “What’s even the point of this, me having this power?” He asked. He knew Hikaru probably wouldn’t have an answer for him--nobody else had--but he still couldn’t help the question. “Why give me something like this? What is it good for, being able to constantly read the emotions of everyone around me? Shouldn’t I at least be able to… To turn it off, or something?”
    “Well, maybe with practice you’ll be able to.” Hikaru offered. Yamada swallowed.
    “I’d better be. I’m no use to the team like this.”
    “It’s not like your powers are useless.”
    Yamada looked up at Hikaru, wanting him to elaborate. His powers had really never been more than a hinderance, and part of him really hated the affect they had on him.
    “Yamada, you’re a powerful asset.” Hikaru told him, and there was a conviction in his voice that Yamada could feel was genuine, but he still didn’t believe it. “You can tell instantly when someone is lying, for one thing. That’s how you caught Inoo, isn’t it?” HIkaru waited until Yamada nodded. “And I’ve been told that you are getting better; you can transfer emotions to others now, right?”
    Another nod, and this time Hikaru took a solemn pause.
    “That’s good.” He said after a moment. “But it’s also very powerful, right? Making other people feel things. Torture would be rendered absolute, for one thing. You could make someone fear for their life for virtually no reason.”
    “But I don’t want to do that.”
    “Will you have a choice?”
    “S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t like that.”
    “Still.” Hikaru sighed. “Which is why I want to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. and request consideration for a division with the well-being of Inhumans in mind, especially if they’re going to go around and collect them, like they have with Matsushima. He needs a safe place to work through what he’s doing, without the pressure of S.H.I.E.L.D. on his back. I don’t think it’s healthy.”
    “So… Do you have full control of your powers?” Yamada asked. Hikaru paused for a moment.
    “I don’t know.” He finally said. Yamada nodded a little. “I mean, I can control my clones well, but I don’t know the full extent of them. I haven’t tested things like how far they can go, or how long they can last. Stuff like that.”
    “You were already Inhuman when the team first encountered you, weren’t you?” Yamada asked. He remembered Yabu and Daiki, both saying they were chasing someone that looked a lot like the hooded figure Yamada himself was in pursuit of. Hikaru nodded.
    “I went on a bit of a quest once I’d left S.H.I.E.L.D., researching and examining alien artifacts.” He explained. “I came across a terrigen crystal in Germany. Once I’d broken out of my husk and the world had been turned upside down, I escaped to one of the safehouses I’d made for myself and stayed there for… For a while.”
    Yamada had to admit, something like that sounded incredibly helpful. Hikaru got to his feet with a sigh.
    “I’m heading into HQ with Yabu and Matsushima, to talk about my idea. And if it goes through, you’re more than welcome to any part of it you want.” He extended a hand down to help Yamada up, and he accepted it. “You don’t need to answer now, but just… Think about it, okay?”
    Yamada nodded, wishing Hikaru luck as he left the room.

“Okay…” Chinen said quietly as he finished scanning, Daiki sitting as still as possible. He didn’t quite trust the portable x-ray Chinen had in his hand--wasn’t radiation supposed to be dangerous or something?--but the tiny agent was completely unbothered, so he guessed it couldn’t be too bad. Then again, Chinen was already a superhuman. Maybe he just wasn’t worried about it anymore.
    “Do you want me to upload the scans?” Inoo asked, holding out a hand. Chinen nodded, handing the device over, and Daiki watched the interaction, his lips pursed. The lab was noticeably uncomfortable, but the mood was also being pointedly ignored. He wanted to say something, but Chinen spoke up first.
    “How have you been feeling?” He asked. “Any headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue?”
    “Nope.”
    “Poor balance, temporary blackouts, ringing in your ears?”
    “No, doctor.”
    Chinen gave him a look at his tone, smiling a bit.
    “I do have a of couple doctorate degrees.” He pointed out.
    “So, the fracture is starting to heal already.” Inoo reported. He angled the screen in their direction, the x-ray of Daiki’s skull on it in black and white, the area of concern maximized. He’d been told after a diagnosis from their resident biochemist that he’d received a lateral skull fracture when being knocked out, but that really, he should consider himself lucky. He hadn’t seen at all how a fracture to his skull could be considered lucky, but began to understand after Chinen had listed the other head injury options that he’d managed to avoid.
Chinen stepped closer to the screen to get a better look.
    “It is.” He remarked. “It’s healing really well, actually. That’s good.”
    “Yeah?” Daiki squinted a bit, but in truth the x-rays didn’t mean much to him at all. He swung his legs over the side of the examination table. “Does that mean I’m free to go?”
    “Almost.” Chinen held up a finger as though telling him to wait, turning away and walking to a far table with some sort of equipment on it.         “There are a few coordination things I want to test, just in case. Stay there for a second.”
    “Okay.” Daiki pulled his legs back up, and silence fell. Inoo was simply sitting in his seat in front of the computer, looking at his hands.
    “How are you?” Daiki decided to ask him. Inoo looked up, his face hesitant.
    “Good.” He answered. Daiki momentarily wished for Yamada’s powers, because ‘good’ was not how he would describe the uncharacteristically timid expression on Inoo’s face.
    “Yeah?”
    “Well, I mean…” Inoo glanced at Chinen, whose hands had stilled over the tools he was calibrating. “It’s not going to be the same.”
    “We all want you back.” Daiki told him, and he watched Inoo swallow, his eyes going back to his hands. “We all heard what you did, and we all get it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel betrayed.”
    “I know.” Inoo said quietly.
    “And Inoo, I’ve known you a long time, and I would still trust you with my life, but… Even all that doesn’t change how this feels.”
    Chinen had put the tools down on the table now, his body completely still. Inoo nodded a bit, not looking up.
    “So, you know… It’ll take some time.” Daiki finished. “Talking would be good. And I want you to remember that I love you, okay?”
    “Okay.” Inoo said. His voice quivered with his bottom lip. “Daiki, I’m sorry.”
    “Thanks, but…” Daiki nodded a bit in Chinen’s direction. “I’m not really the one that needs to hear an apology right now.”
    The little scientist brought his arms up, rubbing at his face before turning back to them, some gadgets Daiki couldn’t name in his hands. His face was dry, but his eyes and nose were red. He glanced at Inoo for just a moment, stopped in mid step when Inoo spoke up.
    “Chinen, I’m so sorry.”
    Chinen stood there for a moment, his face hidden largely with his bangs, before turning and giving his lab partner a small, watery smile, sniffing a little before speaking.
    “I know you are.”

Keito offered up his hand, placing it palm up on his thigh, unable not to smile when Yuto took it and laced their fingers together.
    “Hey.” He said and Yuto smiled back. Yuto had been sticking to him all day, touching him in some way since he’d returned from the retrieval mission. And it wasn’t just today, either; Yuto had been clingy since the Italy mission. Not that Keito minded--he loved physical contact, and Yuto was wonderful--but it had him a little concerned all the same. “Are you alright?”
    “Sure.” Yuto said after a long moment, and Keito smiled back at him.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I just like you.” Yuto told him. “And it’s a little scary.”
    “Scary?” Keito loosened his grip on Yuto’s hand. It was a reflex he’d picked up on, to release any tension when he felt emotions in a higher caliber than normal. “Scared of what? Me?”
    “Of course not.” Yuto gave his hand a squeeze, and Keito went back to holding it. “Just… People don’t retire in this line of work, you know?”
    “Yuto, I’m okay. I walked out of that op; I only got some bruises.” Keito told him.
    “But you could have died. Or I could! You almost got shot, and there was nothing I could do, and it was horrible.”
    Keito glanced up at him, and when Yuto’s head tilted down to look back, Keito gave him a quick kiss.
    “Is this why you’ve been kissing me so much the past few days?” He couldn’t help but ask.
    “Is it a bad thing?” Yuto asked back, looking worried. Keito resisted the urge to laugh, knowing the question had been serious.
    “Of course not.”
    “Then could… Could I just hold you for a little while?”
    Keito leaned against him in response and Yuto got the hint, shifting to rest his back against the crook on the couch between the back and the arm, and Keito rested his head against Yuto’s chest, right under his chin. Yuto wrapped his arms around him, and Keito reveled in the feeling as Yuto kissed the top of his head. The feeling, amidst so much confusion, that everything was right.

“They’re coming back.” Chinen reported, walking quickly into the conference room, Inoo trying his best to keep up. “Yabu just texted me. They’re coming back.”
    Inoo counted quickly, wondering who still needed to be told, realizing that no, everyone had congregated in the conference room, something that often happened when they were on the plane with nothing to do.
    “They? As in both of them?” Yuto asked. Chinen nodded.
    “The text says ‘we’.” He said.
    “Does that mean… The plan worked?”
    “No idea.” Inoo took a seat next to Yamada. Chinen moved to sit next to him, his butt only touching the seat for a second before he was up again, pacing.
    “I don’t think it did.” Takaki said. He was standing, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “I mean… I’m surprised that Hikaru is coming back at all. S.H.I.E.L.D. was sending some big name people after him, last I heard. I wonder if Yabu’s in trouble.”
    “Maybe the second person in ‘we’ is Matsushima?” Yamada offered, getting a few nods. “We already have a few Inhumans on the team, so it would make sense for him to be put in a unit with us. Maybe all three of them are coming back.”
    “But Matsushima and Hikaru aren’t agents.” Daiki pointed out. “They can’t be assigned to a team like that.”
    “If it did succeed, does that mean the Inhumans have to leave?” Keito spoke up. Nobody answered; nobody had any answers for any of the questions, simply throwing theories out into the air as they waited.
    “Probably not.” Inoo finally heard himself saying. He had no idea. Everyone’s head turned as they heard Chinen’s phone go off.
    “They’re here.” He read, and minutes later Yabu strode in, Chinen stopping his pacing, and Hikaru walked in after him.
    “Well?” Inoo prompted, unable to help himself. Matsushima wasn’t with them, and he couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or something bad. Instead of answering, Yabu looked to Hikaru, who gave the smallest of smiles. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
    “They approved it.” He announced, and it was as though the entire room breathed a sigh of relief. “It will take a while, a long while, but it’ll happen. I’ll have to be reinstated as an agent, and report all of my information directly back to HQ, but… Any and all Inhumans found in the country are being sent to the program first, and I can help them. Nobody goes anywhere until they’re ready, and they don’t even have to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent if they don’t want to.”
    His excitement was barely below the surface, and for the slightest of moments glanced over at Inoo, and Inoo couldn’t help but smile. This had been it. This was what they’d been trying for since Hikaru had first gotten in touch with him, and it was finally in Hikaru’s grasp. It had been a confusing, roundabout, unorthodox journey, but Inoo began to feel that just maybe, it was worth it.

The process was long. Hikaru knew it would be, but that knowledge didn’t make it move faster, and his desire to get started immediately made all of the protocols and paperwork crawl by. It was strange, after so many years, to be back in the setting of so many vivid childhood memories, especially with Yabu next to him, walking through the halls like they did years ago. Hikaru found that more than good or bad it was strangely therapeutic, seeing how everything had changed and yet remained so the same.
    The first thing that happened after getting him back to speed and instated with a badge from S.H.I.E.L.D. was to argue through a plan of operations. He really hated a few of the protocols that he wasn’t able to debate from the table, like index registration and psychotherapy sessions, but he kept his feelings to himself upon meeting the therapist he would have to work with, a rather unassuming man named Inagaki Goro. Setting up his base was the fun part, able to buy a stretch of woodland that faded into a beach. He figured that the less infrastructure the better, though he was still instructed to plant a few power containment pods throughout the base, for some safety measure.
    Any moment the team wasn’t in the air for a mission, Yabu was by his side. To Hikaru’s surprise, so was Yamada. It was helpful, getting input from both an Inhuman and a S.H.I.E.L.D. official, and he took it all to heart, from the praises to the criticisms.
    The day finally arrived. It felt surreal, having gotten this far, his badge sporting the words ‘Director of the Inhuman Directive Division’ feeling heavy on the lanyard around his neck. He looked over the training yard, a few young, prospective agents scurrying around as they set up the finishing touches.
    “Well?” He asked, turning to Yamada, who was standing next to him. “Do you think we can do this?”
    Yamada glanced back at him. Yamada had requested to be transferred, and while Hikaru was grateful to have someone to take all of this on with, he knew how the agent must be feeling; when Hikaru had left his own team, he’d felt lost and out of place for a long time. But unlike himself, Yamada hadn’t left his group to strike out on his own. He was here, with a purpose, and Hikaru got a confident nod in response.
    “Yeah.” He said. “I think we can.”
    “Good. Let’s go.”