Agents of SHIELD: Nexus

"SHIELD agents never sleep do they?" Jerren's voice came over the phone. 

"Not nearly enough," Mick replied despairingly. "Do you think you can give me the info without getting in trouble?" 

"I doubt with everything going on, that anyone is paying attention to what info I give you," Jerren said as Mick began to ponder. 

"What do you mean? How bad is it really out there?" 

"Oh it's bad. The Inhuman uprising in South Sudan, there's a revolt going on in Madripoor, there's a crazy mercenary on the lose on the east coast that we're trying to contain, we're still cleaning up Jessica Jone's latest mess, and to top all of that off, we're still being forced to hunt down Captain America." 

"That's crazy. I just thought we were having it bad, but you guys," Mick sighed as he could just picture Jerren nodding. "Thanks man. I really appreciate all of this." 

"I hate that SHIELD is blacklisted still. You guys do more work than we do with a skeleton crew and without any governmental aid," Jerren chuckled. "In some ways, I almost wish you guys don't change the world, it would take a lot off my plate." 

"If you guys are like us, you'll still be working even when you're dead," Jerren laughed as Mick's joke much to his surprise. "Take care, we'll be in touch." 

Mick set off for Mission control to see May and Daisy talking, with Daisy clearly unhappy with how this conversation was going. 

"Everything ok?" Mick asked to get vicious scowls from both ladies. 

"She is refusing to allow Fitz to aid us," May growled glaring at Daisy. 

"I'm not letting him out of that cage!" Daisy barked. "He's already proven he can't be trusted. I'm not about to let him out to hurt anyone else!" 

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Mick asked as May turned to him. 

"I think Fitz can pull a trace of Coulson's cybernetics," May said firmly. 

Mick pondered that for a moment then looked up at Daisy to see the full reluctance in her eyes. "I would bet General Hale has planned for traces of any kind." 

"What would it hurt to try?" May asked with a huff. 

"Any of our remaining agents if Fitz goes psycho again," Daisy grunted. "Besides, Robin would be able to find him without anyone getting hurt!" 

"That's only if Robin has seen where he is!" May barked. "Plus we don't even know where she is!" 

"Actually," Mick said as May and Daisy both turned to him. "She's in a safe house in New Haven." 

"Seriously?" Daisy cheered as May shook her head in frustration. "You rock!" Daisy hugged him. 

"Yeah, that's just another notch on what we owe Jerren," Mick said as Daisy released him. 

"So we go hunting down Robin in hopes that she can lead us to Coulson and this hidden base of operations that General Hale has?" May asked as Daisy nodded. "Do you at least have a back up plan?" 

"Sure," Daisy shrugged. "If Robin can't give us information, then we'll get Fitz involved." 

"Fine," May huffed. "Who is going on this ride?" 

"It's going to be a small crew. You, Mick, and myself," Daisy said firmly. "We can take a quinjet rather than the Zephyr." 

"Who are you leaving in charge while we're away?" May asked with a frown. 

"Mack," Daisy said without hesitation. 

"Fair enough," May said with exasperation. "I'll prep the jet." 

While Daisy was off making preparations Mick decided to check in with Fitz. He was quite surprised to see Fitz as comfortable as he was in the holding cell. "Come to ridicule me?" Fitz asked harshly. 

"No," Mick shook his head. "I wanted to know if you put trackers in Coulson's hand."

"That probably would've been a good idea," Fitz frowned. "But I didn't think we'd need them. It doesn't put out much of a signal at all due our line of work." 

"Makes sense," Mick frowned. "It would suck if someone could pick up a signal when we're trying to infiltrate."

"Ey," Fitz said as Mick rain his hands through his hair, messing up the drooping spikes even more. "Daisy still hate me?" 

"Yeah," Mick frowned. "Working on that. It's gonna take some time though."

"No surprise there," Fitz moaned. "She probably expects an apology, but it's not going to happen. We needed her powers." 

"I don't want to go there," Mick grimaced. "How are you and Jemma holding up?" 

"She visits a lot," Fitz said with a bit of a smile. "It's not fun being in here, and her out there, but it's better than nothing I suppose." 

"You'll be back together before you know it," Mick said in a hopeful tone. 

"At least we're not light years apart, or in different years for that matter," Fitz said as Mick nodded. 

"At least there's that," Mick said. 

"So no luck finding Coulson or Hale?" 

"No," Mick huffed. "That why I hoped you had some kind of tracker on that hand. Apparently we're going to seek out Robin and hope she has drawn a location." 

"Oh," Fitz seemed rather objective to the idea. 

"Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about it either, but Daisy is intent on following that lead." 

"Hopefully it works out," Fitz rolled his eyes. 

"Maybe Mack will let you out while we're gone?" 

"I doubt that," Fitz muttered. "Did you know Deke is supposedly my grandkid?"

"What?" Mick crinkled his nose. "He said something about Jemma being his grandmother but I just figured he was crazy."

"Right!" Fitz smirked. "Although, if that's true, then the moment we change the future he should disappear."

"Why?" Mick stared at Fitz curiously. 

"His future would be erased, which would then erase him," Fitz said plainly. 

"So until Deke vanishes the future doesn't change?" Mick frowned. 

"That's my theory for now," Fitz frowned as well. 

"Grand," Mick huffed. "All of this time travel stuff makes my head hurt." 

"Me too," Fitz nodded as he sat on his bed. 

"I'll see you when we get back. Hopefully with Coulson," Mick smiled as Fitz grimly nodded, leaning back on his bed. 

 Mick rejoined with Daisy in Mission Control, where she had already begun debriefing Mack on the situation. May stood in the corner with her backpack on. "So you understand not to let Fitz out for anything, right?" Daisy said firmly as Mack nodded. "Then we're out of here. If anyone figures out anything let me know immediately. Hopefully we won't be gone too long." 

"You guys just be safe out there. You said Patten can fly the Zephyr if needed, right?" Mack asked as May nodded. "Then we'll be ready to assist if you need us. Good luck out there."

"Don't be too hard on them," Mick said as he passed by Mack. 

"Don't worry about us Webby. Just bring Coulson home," Mack said as Mick nodded. 

The flight was long, mostly due to having to bypass some menacing weather. The cabin was tucked away Rocky Mountains, in a small plot of land in a barely noticeable clearing overlooking a massive lake. "This is a nice little get away," May remarked as the passed over the the lake trying to find a safe place to land the Quinjet. 

"It's almost reminiscent of the Retreat," Daisy said as they landed. 

"Too bad that was blown apart," May frowned. "I liked using it as a vacation spot." 

"Too quiet for me," Daisy frowned. 

"I wasn't too keen on you being locked away there either," Mick tried to be inaudible about it but Daisy looked at him curiously, and May turned to shake her head. 

"Don't act like you kept your thoughts to yourself, you never shut up about her stay there," May teased as Mick frowned. 

"Alright, no time for all of that," Daisy interjected with a sly smile. "We need to see if Robin can lead us to Coulson." 

After a few knocks, Mrs. Hinton opened the door, quite surprised to see anyone, much more that it was SHIELD. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't important," Daisy said as Mrs. Hinton nodded. 

"Has something happened?" She asked, then Daisy began to explain the situation in full. "Oh my words," Mrs. Hinton was taken aback. "Robin hasn't been the same since we left from your friends wedding. She hasn't drawn anything, but she mumbles and talks to people I can't see. She doesn't even recognize me anymore." 

"I'm so sorry," Daisy said as Mick nodded, while they all watched Robin sitting in the living room rocking in a chair. 

"I don't blame you," Mrs. Hinton said as Mick frowned. "I honestly don't know if she even knows when she is at this point." At that moment, Robin looked up toward them, and her face lit up with excitement. 

"Mommy!" She sprinted surprising everyone when she embraced May with the warmest of hugs. "I knew you would come for me! You promised you would." 

Mick, Daisy, and Mrs. Hinton all stared in bewilderment, but surprisingly, Mrs. Hinton was clearly holding back an immense amount of pain. 

"I'm," May started to say, seeing the shattered glass expression on Mrs. Hinton's face. 

"It's fine," Mrs. Hinton lied. "I'm just glad to see her smiling." 

"Robin, do you remember me?" Daisy asked as she knelt down beside the blond girl clinging on to May's legs. 

"Of course," Robin replied. "You're Daisy Johnson. You like the spider guy." 

Daisy smirked as she looked up at Mick, then back down at Robin. "I need you to help me find another one of my friends, Agent Coulson. Do you remember him?" 

Robin's smile faded at Coulson's name. "He's with the bad guy," Robin muttered as Daisy, Mick, and May all seemed surprised by this. 

"What bad guy?" Mick asked as Robin shook her head. 

"Please, we need to find him before something bad happens to him!" Daisy urged, only for Robin to continue shaking her head. 

"You have to let him die," Robin said somberly. 

"We can't do that," Daisy said harshly as Robin buried her head into May's leg. 

"Please Robin, he may die if we don't find him," Mick said kneeling beside Daisy. 

"You'll both die if you do find him," Robin said as Mick and Daisy stared at each other. 

"What if we promise to be careful?" Daisy asked as Robin pulled on May's shirt. 

"Mommy, I want to go swing. I don't want to talk to them anymore," she said as Mick and Daisy sighed. 

"Let's give her a break," May suggested as she led Robin outside with Mrs. Hinton following. 

"So that was a bust," Daisy moaned. 

"Maybe a little," Mick smirked as Daisy slugged him. 

"You're not supposed to agree," Daisy teased playfully. "You were supposed to provide me with encouragement and build me up." 

"So, lie to you?" Mick teased as Daisy scowled and playfully punched him again. This time he grabbed her, as they playfully wrestled about, until Mick caught her wrists, wrapping her arms around her, so her back was against him. she turned to him with a playful smile, and the two kissed. 

"We have a location," May said as she walked in raising a brow at the compromising position the other two were in, which caused them to blush and pull apart. "Do you need a minute?" 

"No, we're fine," Daisy tried to hide her amusement at May's distaste for their PDA, taking the sheet of paper and staring at it curiously. 

"It looks kind of like three fingers," Mick said in a bout of confusion. 

"It must have some kind of geographic match," Daisy said as May nodded. 

"If we had Fitz, we could run it by him," May murmured. 

"We don't need Fitz," Daisy barked. "We can do this without him. Let's get it scanned and sent to the Lighthouse. Maybe Agent Brent can run it for us?" 

"Mommy don't leave me!" Robin yelled as she ran into the house chasing after May. 

"I have to go save our friend," May said as she knelt beside Robin. 

"Please don't leave me," Robin said fearfully. "I don't want to be alone." Her words once again shattered Mrs. Hinton, as she made it inside just in time to hear them. 

"Mrs. Hinton," Daisy said remorsefully. 

"I don't believe I exist in whatever future she's seeing, and I think that's why she doesn't notice me anymore," Mrs. Hinton said softly. "We can go with you, and I'll keep Robin safe." 

"Are you sure?" May asked as Mrs. Hinton nodded. "Alright. Let's go."