Resurrection - Chapter 10
Agent, now Director Coulson has been on plenty of dangerous missions, but never anything remotely as risky as this. One false move might make things end in disaster.
Chapter 10
The rest of the flight was Phil’s worst nightmare. He knew what he wanted to do, but every time he played though the scenario it came with a disastrous ending. There were versions where Audrey killed herself, where she descended into the black hole of depression, where her whole life was destroyed, and where she could no longer play the cello...and those were the good endings.
He tried to explore different words, but none of them worked. In between the depressing images he remembered his conversations with Fitz and Melinda. They were, of course, both right. He had to tell her. It was the right thing to do, and he’d concluded that long before the attacks at CyberTek and his appointment as Director of the new SHIELD.
Finally, because nothing else worked, he decided to seek the advice of the one person who might be both able and willing to help him. He prowled around the plane, pretending to be looking for something, while, in truth, he was looking for someone. He kept putting off searching the one place where he knew she would be. Finally, as Melinda announced that PDX was less than 30 minutes away, he walked into the ramp and knocked on the window.
“What’s up?”
“Mind if I join you? I...I need some help with something.”
“Sure, Phil. Hop in.” Skye wasn’t sure, but she suspected, and if she was right she knew exactly what was coming.
After a few pointless platitudes, and another round of “nice job with Susan” comments, he finally got to the point. “I don’t know what to tell her,” he blurted out, having finally mustered the courage to confront reality.
“Yeah. I understand that. Nothing seems to be the right thing to say, right?” Phil just nodded. “Well, I’ve never met her, but from what Jemma told me, she’s a pretty neat lady. I tend to believe she’ll do better than you expect.”
“But, what to tell her.” She nodded. “Tough to say, but I’d start with the truth. “She was told you died, so...I’d probably begin with that. You did die. Of course, you can’t really explain that, and certainly not the details of how you became un-dead again. But...I’d begin with some details of what happened. Let her know that it wasn’t just a made-up story. Heck, you could even show her your scar,” she added with a giggle.
“Nah,” she continued, shaking her head. “That’s probably too much information. She’ll believe you.”
“Now, from there, just tell her the truth - that you didn’t think it was fair to her, to come back to life and expect her to just pick up right where you left off. You could also explain that it was important to the enemies of SHIELD that you remain dead, and that if she knew otherwise she might be in danger from folks like Hydra.”
“What about Daniels? She was...she told Jemma that she really thought I was there. She’s going to be really pissed when she finds out I was but wouldn’t actually talk to her.”
“No. She won’t. Tell her the truth. Why did you go back there? We had a million other problems, and there were far more dangerous people on the loose than Daniels. You went back because you knew that’s where he’d go, and you knew she’d be in danger. Even if you couldn’t be together, you were still looking out for her.”
Phil mulled over Skye’s advice, saying nothing as he tried to poke holes in the ideas she’d laid out. He could see every phrase going in some terrible direction, but he had to admit he couldn’t come up with anything better. Finally he came back to the biggest problem. “How do I contact her?”
Skye smiled. “How about you leave that to me.” She grinned. “I think I need an excuse to show off my new badge, so let me start the ball rolling. Are you good with that?”
Phil considered her words. She knows people. She understands people. Maybe...just maybe, she can open the door. It can’t be worse than....
“Okay, if you’re willing to...help. I just...I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”
Skye smiled. “It’s going to turn out wonderfully.”
Melinda’s voice drifted in from the PA system in the cargo bay: We’re on final approach to PDX.
Chapter 10
The rest of the flight was Phil’s worst nightmare. He knew what he wanted to do, but every time he played though the scenario it came with a disastrous ending. There were versions where Audrey killed herself, where she descended into the black hole of depression, where her whole life was destroyed, and where she could no longer play the cello...and those were the good endings.
He tried to explore different words, but none of them worked. In between the depressing images he remembered his conversations with Fitz and Melinda. They were, of course, both right. He had to tell her. It was the right thing to do, and he’d concluded that long before the attacks at CyberTek and his appointment as Director of the new SHIELD.
Finally, because nothing else worked, he decided to seek the advice of the one person who might be both able and willing to help him. He prowled around the plane, pretending to be looking for something, while, in truth, he was looking for someone. He kept putting off searching the one place where he knew she would be. Finally, as Melinda announced that PDX was less than 30 minutes away, he walked into the ramp and knocked on the window.
“What’s up?”
“Mind if I join you? I...I need some help with something.”
“Sure, Phil. Hop in.” Skye wasn’t sure, but she suspected, and if she was right she knew exactly what was coming.
After a few pointless platitudes, and another round of “nice job with Susan” comments, he finally got to the point. “I don’t know what to tell her,” he blurted out, having finally mustered the courage to confront reality.
“Yeah. I understand that. Nothing seems to be the right thing to say, right?” Phil just nodded. “Well, I’ve never met her, but from what Jemma told me, she’s a pretty neat lady. I tend to believe she’ll do better than you expect.”
“But, what to tell her.” She nodded. “Tough to say, but I’d start with the truth. “She was told you died, so...I’d probably begin with that. You did die. Of course, you can’t really explain that, and certainly not the details of how you became un-dead again. But...I’d begin with some details of what happened. Let her know that it wasn’t just a made-up story. Heck, you could even show her your scar,” she added with a giggle.
“Nah,” she continued, shaking her head. “That’s probably too much information. She’ll believe you.”
“Now, from there, just tell her the truth - that you didn’t think it was fair to her, to come back to life and expect her to just pick up right where you left off. You could also explain that it was important to the enemies of SHIELD that you remain dead, and that if she knew otherwise she might be in danger from folks like Hydra.”
“What about Daniels? She was...she told Jemma that she really thought I was there. She’s going to be really pissed when she finds out I was but wouldn’t actually talk to her.”
“No. She won’t. Tell her the truth. Why did you go back there? We had a million other problems, and there were far more dangerous people on the loose than Daniels. You went back because you knew that’s where he’d go, and you knew she’d be in danger. Even if you couldn’t be together, you were still looking out for her.”
Phil mulled over Skye’s advice, saying nothing as he tried to poke holes in the ideas she’d laid out. He could see every phrase going in some terrible direction, but he had to admit he couldn’t come up with anything better. Finally he came back to the biggest problem. “How do I contact her?”
Skye smiled. “How about you leave that to me.” She grinned. “I think I need an excuse to show off my new badge, so let me start the ball rolling. Are you good with that?”
Phil considered her words. She knows people. She understands people. Maybe...just maybe, she can open the door. It can’t be worse than....
“Okay, if you’re willing to...help. I just...I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”
Skye smiled. “It’s going to turn out wonderfully.”
Melinda’s voice drifted in from the PA system in the cargo bay: We’re on final approach to PDX.