The Magical Place

Agent Hand had all but taken control of the bus, dozens of lower ranked agents swarmed the once home-like corridors. Now it felt no different than the hub. He, much like the rest of the team had been in panic mode since the death of Mike Peterson as well as the abduction of Coulson. Thirty six hours felt more like a week in how much work they had been doing. They had just secured a known weapons and Chitaurian artifact smuggler, Tyson Vanchat. Hand had him locked in the interrogation room with one of her own agents attempting to get information. 

Mick found himself locked in his bunk to keep far away from Agent Hand and her lackies as he and Skye so playfully named them. He tried to calm his racing mind by focusing on his breathing, just as Agent May had taught him during their training sessions. Only that failed him due to the constant chatter on the other side of the sliding door. He slid it open quite furiously glaring at everyone walking by.

"Hey, wanna help me out?" Skye asked as Mick raised a brow. "I need to track the money trail from this slimeball, and my bracelet isn't going to let that happen." 

"What's tracking his money going to do?" Mick asked as Skye rolled her eyes. 

"The metals match Centipede's, didn't you listen to anything FitzSimmons said?" 

"Sorry, I've been a little distracted," Mick glared at the extra agents now sitting at the bar. 

"Yeah, it is a bit noisy around here," Skye then set her laptop on Mick's bed, shoving him over so she could sit beside him, then carefully slid the door shut. 

"They're going to think something is up," Mick said nervously as Skye let out a chuckle. 

"Yeah, okay," Skye teased. "You say it all the time, we're just friends remember?" 

It was true, he did find himself saying that quite a bit. "What do you need me to do?" 

Skye smiled. "First, we need to figure out his login." 

She then coached him through the process, which quickly overwhelmed him. At first it seemed quite easy, then some black screen opened up, he hit a few keys, then smack! "Not that! You'll crash my laptop!" Skye barked as she reached for it trying to fix Mick's mistake. Alarms then sounded across the Bus, as well as her computer going into lockout mode. 

"Sorry," Mick sighed as Skye gave him the disappointed stare. 

His door slid open to see Agent Hand, as well as Ward and May behind her. "What do you think you're doing?" 

"Would you believe me if I said making out?" Skye asked with a cheeky grin as Hand simply glared at the two of them. "Okay fine, we were trying to follow the money trail!" 

"What good is that going to do? We have Vanchat in interrogation," Hand said bitterly. 

"If we follow the transaction we can find Centipede, I can hack their account and we get Coulson back."

"Wait, you're that consultant who shot Agent Sitwell!" Hand snapped bitterly. 

"Technically that wasn't me," Skye said lightly. 

"I want you off this plane immediately," Hand turned to leave. 

"You can't do that!" Mick barked as Hand turned to him and scoffed. 

"And who's going to stop me?" Mick simply glared as Hand rolled her eyes. 

"Look, I know I'm not some amazing agent like May or Ward, but this is what I do! You can't just kick me off the mission!" Skye exclaimed, jumping off Mick's bed, following after Hand. 

"This is my Op now, and I don't want some snarky little hacker interfering," Hand snapped as Mick rushed to Skye's side. 

"I'll do whatever you tell me to do." Skye pleaded. "I just think this protocol crap is stupid when we should be focusing on getting back Coulson!" 

"This protocol crap is important," Agent Hand snapped. "Clearly you're just a distraction, and I want you gone." She eyed Mick, daring him to speak out again. 

"Look, I know her methods are unorthodox," Ward glanced at Skye, then back at Hand. "But she's a valuable member of our team." 

Hand seemed quite shocked to see Ward standing up for Skye, then she turned to May. "What do you think? Is she going to be any use to us on the plane?"

"No," May said without any emotion. 

"What?" Mick gasped only for Hand to shake her head. 

"Increase her restriction level, take her laptop and phone. We'll have her debriefed as soon as we land," Hand's words were harsh. 

"I'm her S.O. Let me handle it," Ward said, slightly deflated. Skye then stormed off, glaring at May in disbelief, Ward letting out a sigh then following her.

"I can't believe you'd do that," Mick snapped as he shook his head, then followed Ward. 

Skye paced the cargo hold furiously, while Fitz and Simmons scrambled around in the lab behind her. "I can't believe this!" Skye fussed. "I don't know what I did to her, but that was out of line!" 

"I agree, and we're not taking this lying down," Mick said stoically. 

"You can't fight this," Ward said sympathetically. "You have to trust May. This will all be worked out once we get Coulson back." 

"But I can find him!" Skye looked as the ground and bit her lip. 

"I know, I've seen firsthand what you can do, even without SHIELD resources," Ward said in a somber manner, only for both Mick and Skye to look at him curiously. 

"Hang on," Fitz said running out of the lab with Simmons, who was holding a brown paper bag. 

"We made something for you!" Jemma said with a slight amount of eagerness. 

"A sandwich?" Skye glanced at the bag skeptically then back at FitzSimmons. 

"Yes, that's it," Jemma said, her face contorting quite a bit in discomfort. 

"It's a sat phone, damper resistant," Fitz said softly as Skye nodded. "You'll get one shot before the bracelet kills it."

"So only call in an emergency," Simmons said with a frown. 

"What am I going to need this for?" Skye asked skeptically. "I'm supposed to spend the next three days in a broom closet getting debriefed."

"True, there are supposed to be some agents picking you up for debriefing," Ward smirked. "Sure does seem like a nice day to take that bike out for a spin?" He then nudged Mick as they shared a mischievous smile. 

"It sure does, but wouldn't they be able to track my phone and stuff?" Mick said as Skye glanced at him curiously. 

"Not if you accidentally left it in the lab," Fitz chimed in as they all shared a smile. Mick quickly pulled his phone and wallet out, handing it to Fitz. 

"You have exactly twelve minutes," Ward said with a smile. "Good luck." 

"You sure you're up for this?" Mick asked Skye who smirked as they walked over to his black motorcycle.

"Let's go," Skye climbed on the back of the bike, wrapping her arms around Mick's torso as his bike roared to life.

It was almost nostalgic to be back on the street in Los Angeles, ironically, running from SHIELD. The city had already changed quite a bit, new restaurants, corner stores changed names, but one thing that never changed; the traffic. Thankfully being on a motorcycle meant they could weave through it, and he had plenty of practice doing just that. 

"I wish I knew you drove this sooner!" Skye said as Mick chuckled. 

"Really? Why is that?" Mick asked. 

"Bikes are awesome!" Skye replied, griping Mick tighter as he sped up to get on the interstate. 

"Where exactly are we going?" Skye asked leaning her head against Mick. 

"We need a computer don't we?" 

"That would help," Skye admitted.

"If I know my friends, then my old apartment should still be leased to me. We used it as a vacation spot. I've got a laptop there," he felt Skye nod 

"Where was this place?" 

"Santa Monica beach," Mick said proudly. 

Skye was almost speechless when they reached the top floor apartment, seeing the beautiful ocean view from the sliding glass door in the living room. He walked into his room, reaching under the bed pulling out a small Apple laptop, then returned to see Skye standing on the balcony. He opened the door as she turned to him in awe. 

"Think we can use this?" Mick held up his laptop.

"I don't see why not," Skye shrugged. "Why did you ever leave this place?"

"Can't just sit and watch the ocean all day," Mick said as he sat down in one of the three deck chairs. "Had to pay the rent somehow." 

"How did you even afford a place like this?" Skye asked sitting across from him. 

"Rent was split four ways, Jerren, Patten, Davis, and myself. They'd all come out when they had time, and I simply lived here running a PI while also playing vigilante at night," Mick's laptop chimed as it booted up. 

"Must've paid pretty well," Skye sighed. 

"Eh, not as good as SHIELD for most cases. But I did still technically work for SHIELD. I gathered intel on the Rising Tide activities, usually that led me to you, since you were the most active in the area. Few times I ended up in Anaheim, couple times in the valley, mostly here." 

"So SHIELD had eyes on me that long? Why'd they let me keep going?" Skye seemed quite intrigued. 

"They didn't know it was you," Mick said plainly. "At least until you uploaded that footage of the Battle of New York on your freaking podcast. Couldn't protect you from them then." 

"So wait, you kept them off my trail?" Skye questioned as Mick sighed. "Why would you do that?" 

"I liked having you around, didn't want them to lock you up or something," Mick said, which was mostly true. 

"You sure it wasn't more than that?" She grinned playfully. 

"Maybe for a little while it was," Mick admitted. "But, after how crazy Recluse life had been, I wasn't going to ever risk anyone getting hurt because of me." 

"So you did have feelings for me?" Skye asked in disbelief. 

"Yeah, I did," Mick finally admitted. 

"Huh," Skye looked him over then shook her head with a smirk. 

"What do I do next?" Mick spun the computer around as Skye smirked, clearly impressed by how Mick managed to get back where they left off on the Bus. She leaned in only to have the bracelet at the laptop make an awful alert sound followed by the SHIELD lockout screen. 

"Not that," Skye groaned. 

"Crap! I liked that laptop too!" Mick fussed. "Good like I this was my spare!" 

"Sorry," Skye huffed. 

"Eh, but if I don't get this out of here, they'll storm my apartment, and I can't have that," Mick then leaned over the railing to see the same obnoxious furniture of the neighbors he didn't like next to him. "Enjoy the new laptop!" Mick tossed it carefully into their balcony. 

"Let's bail, maybe we can hit that coffee shop on the Eastside?" Mick suggest as he grabbed his keys from the table.

Mick loved every second of Skye being so close to him, he didn't want it to end. Half heartedly he wanted them to stay like this, let SHIELD be and they could be a team of their own. Then he remembered why they were doing this. He already suffered the loss of his father figure, Phil Coulson once. He had no intentions of letting that happen again. They arrived at the small cyber cafe, Skye used some of the loose cash Mick while Mick attempted to research the bank rather than hacking it. 

After a few different searches for connecting banks, Skye walked over seeing the odd searches. "Lloyd Rathman? Who's that?" 

"A corporate slime," Mick stated plainly. 

"Looks that way," she replied leaning near the computer. The screen then flashed into the SHIELD lockout. "Oh son of a," she paused as the other patrons began fussing, and questioning the meaning behind their now locked computers. 

"We need to keep moving," Mick said as Skye frowned, then left her coffee by the desktop. "I mean, unless you want to be stuck in a SHIELD facility while I find Coulson." 

"Not particularly," Skye said as she climbed on Mick's bike. "What's your plan?"

"I've dealt with Rathman before," Mick said revving up his bike. "Back when he was hooking up with his secretary behind his wife's back." 

"Sounds about right for a guy like that," Skye grunted. 

"Oh just wait, until you see his Brentwood estate," Mick scoffed as they launched into the street, heading towards their next destination. 

They needed some new looks, something that would attract attention. They stopped briefly at a clothing shop. Skye grabbed a tight leather outfit, one she claimed reminded her of Agent May's typical fashion. Mick, went with the black suit style, akin to Coulson, with matching aviator glasses. Now everything was ready for the next part of Mick's plan.

The high end neighborhood was typically under heavy security, but that is exactly how Mick planned to use that to his advantage. While the inhabitants all had lavish mansions, they also lived in their own isolation. No one knew anyone else unless it benefited them, and after the nasty divorce and court hearings, no one would pay any mind to that snake Rathman. 

"What's your business?" The guard stopped Mick staring at him suspiciously. 

"I'm here to get my father's blessing for my engagement," Mick said as the guard glanced at him and Skye curiously, 

"And just who is your father?" The guard seemed to sneer. 

"Lloyd Rathman," Mick said as Skye rubbed him affectionately, only helping to assist his 

"Go on," the guard sighed, as Mick nodded, then rode past him.

They arrived at the Rathman estate, Mick parking in the driveway of the obnoxiously large house with it's three car garage. "Great job back there," Mick said as Skye smiled. 

"Figured it would help if I played along," Skye winked. 

"Sure that's all it was?" Mick teased as they walked over toward the house. 

"It's the suit," Skye teased then raised her brow pursed her lips, intriguing Mick quite a bit. 

They walked over to the door, which had an intricate alarm system, which was quite the problem being that they had no way of hacking into anything. "What's your plan now Hotshot?"

"I set off an alarm that Rathman will respond to personally," Mick smirked mischievously, grabbing a small rock, then he walked around the large glass walled living room to a small window. 

"You're going to break into his bathroom?" Skye's skepticism met her sarcastic tone. 

"This isn't a bathroom. He clearly learned a few things since his divorce like, frosting windows so peeping eyes can't see your dirty work," Mick used his webs to get high enough to smash the window. Skye grimaced at the thought of Mick spying like that or what he must've seen. "That should trip his personal alarm, which will cause him to get here and answer our questions."

"Won't he be quite curious as to why we're standing around waiting for him?" Skye frowned. 

"That depends, how far are you willing to go to find Coulson?" 

"As far as it takes, why?" 

"He needs to think we're a couple that just pulled into the wrong driveway," Mick said with a coy grin. 

"That doesn't ever happen," Skye shook her head. 

"Happens out here a lot more than you think," Mick stated as Skye seemed baffled. "These rich socialites often find a new hookup and just, how to put it nicely, get lost in the moment wherever they end up." 

"So you want to have a random make-out session in this guys driveway?" Skye was clearly unsure of the real motives here. 

"No, by the front door. The driveway would look too suspicious, the door makes it look like we at least tried to wait," Mick smirked playfully. 

"I think you're way too into this Bellouve," Skye said as she pushed him against the wall with a playful grin. 

"Whatever it takes," Mick said, his eyes locked on hers. 

"Whatever it takes," she replied. "Don't push it though." 

"Just make it look real when we hear his car," Mick said softly, trying to hide his excitement. Even if it was just for the mission, this was something he had secretly wanted for way too long. 

Fifteen minutes passed with the two sitting in front of the front door, until the squeaking of Rathman's tires pulling into the driveway set off the strangest few moments of Mick's life. Skye climbed on Mick's lap, pinning his arms to the wall behind him, then kissed him roughly. It took a few moments before Mick's mind caught up with the charade, his heart pounding wildly. 

"Oh what the actual heck is going on here?" Rathman snapped as Skye backed off Mick, with a look of embarrassment. 

"Oh, is this your place? Sorry mate!" Mick said in the worst English accent he'd ever heard. 

"It's fine I guess, just, move along," Rathman sounded quite annoyed, then stepped around them unlocking his house then storming inside towards his office. 

"Right," Mick said as he slipped his shoe off, wedging it in the door before it could shut, then eased it open carefully as Rathman entered his office. "Come on, now we grab him, and if we play this right, he can get us our info."

"And what's your next play Romeo?" Skye motioned for him to wipe the lipstick from his face. 

"We confront him as SHIELD," Mick shrugged.

"Simple enough," Skye smiled, pulling out a pair of aviators of her own.

They walked into Rathman's office to see him frantically searching through various files, clearly making sure nothing was stolen. "You're in a lot of trouble Mr. Rathman," Skye said harshly as the man turned, dropping the folder in his hands. 

"What?" Rathman looked them over, quite confused and irritated. "How did you get in here? And just who are you?" 

"I'm Agent Melinda May," Skye did her best to impersonate May's expression and tone.

"Phil Coulson," Mick nodded with a grin. "We're with SHIELD." 

"Look there's clearly some misunderstandings here," Rathman said nervously. "I'm a legitimate business man."

"We have mounting evidence that you've been siphoning money into some off shore accounts linked to some very bad people," Skye said harshly, keeping up her May impersonation. 

"What my clients do with their money is their business," Rathman snapped as he pulled out his phone. "I'm calling my lawyer." 

"Oh I wouldn't do that," Mick stepped forward, doing his best to impersonate the cool tone of Coulson. "See, SHIELD is willing to make you an offer, if you're willing to help us catch some of these bad people." 

"What kind off offer?" Rathman debated on pressing the call button. 

"Complete immunity," Skye said anxiously. "You walk away completely free, and we don't even touch that pretty boat of yours down on Key Largo." Mick took in a breath, knowing that if and when they got Coulson back, he wasn't going to be pleased with what they just offered. 

"And if I decline?" Rathman was clearly on edge. 

"Then you'll be locked in what we call the Fridge for the next five years," Mick said calmly, which caused Rathman to raise a brow. "Oh it's much worse than it sounds." 

"Fine," Rathman lowered his phone, then glared at the pair. "How can I help?" 

"We need you to log in and we'll go from there," Skye said as Rathman glared before sitting at his desk. 

"I'm not going any farther until I see a badge," Rathman snapped as Skye glanced at Mick. He then shrugged, handing her Rathman's phone. 

"Fine," Skye said with a grin. "SHIELD protocol six alpha vector." She then heard a beep, and the lockout screen flashed on his phone. Rathman must've recognized the logo as he quickly began logging on. 

"I don't understand how you found me to begin with," he grumbled while Mick glanced around at a couple photo's across the office. 

"You're a prime exploit with your gambling, the divorce, that money pit in the Caymans. You're even behind on your child support payments," Skye smiled with how impressive

Mick must've sounded. 

Rathman then groaned with an exaggerated eye roll. "That's a clerical error, and my ex knows it." 

"Sure it is," Skye grunted as two armed security guards barged in. 

"Hands up!" The man first man yelled as Mick and Skye shared a nod. The two moved swiftly, Mick going in low, taking the bigger set guard down with ease then pinning him, while Skye went high, using quite a bit of finesse to disarm her foe and pin him to the wall in a Ward like manner. 

"Alright! Enough!" Rathman barked nervously. "Clearly you SHIELD people don't mess around." He scowled at his two guards as Mick and Skye shoved them into a few chairs in the corner. 

"There, here's a complete list. Just know, you can't transfer large funds online," Rathman said as Skye glanced at Mick, who quickly nodded, shoving Rathman and his chair aside. 

"We need transaction records," Skye said as Mick began his search. 

"I'm not seeing anything with names, give me something else," Mick stated. 

"Go to his account history. We need to open up a terminal emulator, see what kind of encryption they've got," Skye began to explain. "If it's an SSL 256 or AES Twofish Serpent, we're in business. Quantum key, that's another story."

"You're sounding like FitzSimmons," Mick glanced at her over the large screen. "But I think I've got it." Mick turned the screen just enough for Skye to glance over it. 

"Perfect, now open the Python and delete the second line of code," Skye said as Mick took a deep breath. This was almost as bad as trying to make sense of the things FitzSimmons said while working in the lab, except luckily Jerren and Patten had taught him a little about hacking a few years back. 

"Got everything on old pal, Vanchat!" Mick exclaimed as he scrolled to a large deposit. 

"I bet this one leads us right to Raina." Mick then clicked the account, seeing multiple large transactions, until he found details for a large plot of land bought in the southern Colorado Desert. He then printed the details and exhaled pleased with his work. 

"Does that mean you're done?" Rathman barked as Mick glanced at him with a callous grin.

"For now," he replied as he and Skye left. 

Once outside, Mick turned to Skye with a grin while she looked over the papers. "We need to let the others know about this," she said then smiled as Mick held up the sat phone from the cubby on the bike. 

"Think you can handle me driving while your on the phone?" Mick asked revving up his bike. 

"I can manage," Skye said smugly, climbing on behind him. 

"I printed us directions too, since we're kinda screwed with tech," Mick said as Skye chuckled. 

"Yeah, because directions are totally going to help us in the desert," she snipped. 

"They'll at least point us in the right area." With the roar of the engine, they were off, hopefully to find Agent Coulson, and possibly put an end to Centipede and Raina as well. 

Two long hours, and they reached a small town that looked as if it were ripped straight from an old movie. There were creepy mannequins both inside and outside buildings. There was a rough looking park, that clearly was worn down only by the sandstorms. Some of the houses even had nice interiors that hadn't been destroyed by the sand. 

"I've seen horror movies like this," Skye said nervously as the pair walked around. 

"Let's not think about that, and just worry about finding Coulson," Mick suggested as his own nerves were just as wild as hers. 

"Hey, you shouldn't be here!" A Centipede soldier charged out of one of the houses. 

"Uh oh!" Skye gasped as Mick motioned for her to go. 

Mick quickly shot webs, which only annoyed the soldier as he ripped through them with ease. "Great, one of those kinds," Mick groaned as he took off after Skye. They quickly reached the park, where Skye had ducked behind a slide. Mick figured this was as good as a place as any to go hand to hand with a super soldier. The two exchanged several blows, Mick clearly taking more damage until he backed to the swingset. He then ripped one of the swings down, using the chain as a weapon. The soldier eased closer as Mick then tossed the chain at the soldier as a decoy then rushed at the soldier. He quickly slid under the distracted, webbing his chest the jerking the line causing the soldier to crash into the ground on top of the the chain. Mick then quickly grabbed the two ends to the chain squeezing it around the struggling soldier's neck until he passed out. 

A black SHIELD SUV pulled in, much to Mick's relief, Ward, Fitz, Simmons, and May climbing out. Mick then used webs to pin down the soldier, knowing full well this would only delay rather than completely stop him once he awakens. "I was starting to wonder if you could actually track that satellite phone!" Skye exclaimed peaking out from underneath the slide. 

"It's a pretty big desert," Ward said plainly. 

"Are you certain he's here?" May asked cautiously.

"Judging by the Psycho soldier, I'd say yes," Mick pointed out, only to have two more burst out of buildings. 

"You may want these," Jemma quickly handed Mick his belt with his saber and pistol. 

"Thanks," Mick said as Ward stepped up beside him. 

"You sure you two can handle this?" May asked as the two men nodded. "I'll radio you when we find him!" 

After snapping his belt, Mick flicked his blade as it crackled to life, then he took a fighting stance. The Centipede soldiers charged at them, Ward attempting to jamHis assailant with something he pulled from his watch, while Mick swung relentlessly at his foe, who blocked the assault with his implant, sending sparks flying around wildly. It didn't take long for Mick to steal the upper hand by cracking the implant, which then allowed him to knock his foe out with ease. He turned to see Ward standing victoriously over his foe as well. 

"Now where the heck is Coulson?" Ward asked as the two glanced around hoping for some idea. They began running as they saw Agent May sprinting towards a far off building. Upon getting closer they could hear Coulson's pain filled screams. They burst inside to see an unconscious Raina, and Coulson shaking and whimpering. 

"What the heck did they do to him?" Mick gasped as he stared at the strange table Coulson laid upon. 

"I'm not sure, but whatever it was, it's shaken him up pretty bad," May said, her tone shaken. 

"I'll grab the car, and we'll move him to the Bus," Ward said somberly.

"What about her?" Mick snapped as he stared at Raina. 

"Don't worry, she's going with us too," May said bitterly.

Once they arrived back to the Bus, Mick finally felt a bit of relief. Coulson was home, Raina was now in custody, everything seemed normal. He stood proudly beside his friends as they watched Agent Hand's team escort Raina into their holding facility. 

"Bet there's not flower dresses where she's going," Simmons said with a cheesy grin.

"Amen to that," Fitz chuckled. 

Good riddance," Skye snapped. 

"I love the outfit!" Jemma said as Skye smiled proudly. 

It looks," Ward paused for a moment wearing a unusual smile. "Fitting for you." 

"Thanks," Skye beamed. 

"Looks like you two had a lot of fun," May said as she pointed at the smeared lipstick on Mick's sleeve, which only caused Jemma and Fitz to begin clamoring for answers. 

"It was just a cover," Skye said as she and Mick shared a smile. 

"Sure it was Rookie," Ward smirked as he turned towards the stairs, Skye quick to follow and explain. 

"Was that all it was?" May asked Mick, who couldn't help but smile. 

"Yeah, we did what we had to do to find Coulson," Mick said stoically. 

"As long as you don't let it get in the way," May smiled as she walked to the stairs. 

"Tell is the truth then," Jemma leaned into Mick, who simply smiled and shook his head. 

"No! You can't do that!" Fitz called out as he and Simmons followed him up stairs, eager for any more juicy details.