Agents of SHIELD: Nexus

"Where the heck are they?" Daisy fussed as she paced around cockpit of the quinjet. 

"You need to settle down, you're going to make our passengers anxious," May said sternly. 

"How can I settle down when Coulson is in this frozen wasteland?" Daisy barked. 

"How do we even know they're here already?" Mick asked as Daisy glanced at him in annoyance. 

"Robin's predictions haven't been wrong yet," Daisy fussed. 

"Isn't our whole play in this to make them wrong though?" Mick asked as May snickered. 

"Less talking more looking!" Daisy huffed as Mick rolled his eyes leaning on the terminal as he and May shared an exasperated glance. "What if they're on the ground and all we're doing is kicking up snow with every pass?" 

"We can't land around here," May said as she glanced up at Daisy. "Especially not if Hale's base of operations is around here. We'd be completely exposed." 

"I'll take being exposed to failure," Daisy said as May rolled her eyes and sighed. 

"You're the boss," May grunted. 

"We'll be right back, you guys should be safe in here," May said to Mrs. Hinton as Mick and Daisy waited on the ramp for her. 

"Thank you," Mrs. Hinton replied with a nod as the sleeping Robin had her head across her lap. 

"I don't like this at all," May said sharply as she pressed a button, closing the hatch of the quinjet. 

"You don't have to like it," Daisy huffed as they began to search the snow coated forest. The cold was relentless, but the lack of wind and the light of the sun made it much more bearable. Thankfully, Mick now had a SHIELD compression suit, black leather, shimmering markings and a silver spider across the chest. It almost matched Daisy's suit design, only with web designs spanning the arms and legs. 

There was a loud cracking sound, pulling everyone's attention. "Limbs shouldn't be falling now?" May said as Daisy's face read more of a panic. 

"Then that should be Coulson!" She exclaimed as a cloud of smoke formed over the trees. 

"We can't rush into this, we need a plan!" May barked. 

"We have a plan!" Daisy barked as she began running in the direction of the sound. "Save Coulson!" 

"Daisy!" Mick called out as he shook his head running after her. 

They followed the sounds of destruction through a maze of trees until they finally reached a clearing where Jake, Bri, and the Assassin were attacking line of trees. 

"That's not good," Mick said as Daisy glanced at him curiously. 

"I'll take the one with the powers, you two handle the others," Daisy said as Mick grabbed her shoulders. 

"It's not that simple. I have history with two of them, and that third one is lethal with those chakram," Mick said as Daisy seemed skeptical. 

"It's true," May said as Daisy glanced at her. "That's the one that took off Yo-yo's arms." 

"Then I'll deal with her," Daisy growled, turning her focus to the black masked assassin. "One good quake should put her in her place." 

"Daisy!" Mick fussed as Daisy stepped out, pulsating waves shooting from her extended hand, launching the Assassin across the field into a large pine tree. The impact caused snow to fall from the branches, drawing the attention of both Jake and Bri. 

"Perfect, now we can take them all in!" Jake smiled viciously as Bri shook her head. 

"We only need Coulson alive though," Bri snarled as wind whipped around her as she began to levitate. 

"I'll handle her," Mick said as May nodded. He charged at Bri firing several webs as she brushed them away effortlessly. 

"Your old tricks aren't going to work on me!" Bri screamed out in rage, launching several explosive burst of wind, Mick narrowly avoided all but one, which then launched him into the air. He scrambled quickly, grabbing the top of a tree with his webbing, then quickly shot two more guiding himself through the thicket as he landed on a branch. "I know you're up there!" 

"Bri, you have to calm down!" Mick called out as several wind burst rippled through the tree, sending snow and ice crashing down. 

"I'll be calm once you're dead!" She screamed. 

"Somehow I doubt that!" Mick replied swinging down from the tree, catching Bri by surprise kicking her in her side, sending her crashing into the snow. 

"Good to see you," Coulson said as he peaked out from the tree line with Glenn Talbot at his side. 

"Yeah," Mick nodded as Bri started to get up. "Would've loved a more relaxing reunion but that never seems to happen for us." 

Bri's face contorted, her ivory complexion tinted red matching her unrelenting fury. To Mick's surprise she went flying across the field into a tree, followed quickly by Jake and the now maskless, platinum blonde girl he knew as the Assassin. Thick amounts of snow and ice falling atop, burying them. 

"That should hold them off for a bit," Daisy said with a pant. "Good to see you Boss. May is going to take you guys to safety. I'll make sure these guys don't follow." 

"I'm glad you guys showed up," Coulson said as May stood off in the distance with a scowl. "How did you know where to find us?" 

"We used Robin Hinton," Daisy said as the ice pile began to rustle. "Please go before we have to go for round two!" 

"Right!" Coulson said as he helped Talbot cross the field to May. 

No sooner than he reached May, and onslaught of gunfire began raining down on them. Mick, without a moment of hesitation sprinted toward Daisy as she ducked behind a tree. "What do we do now?" Mick asked as they watched the Assassin stand, helping up Jake and Bri with her. 

"What choice do we have? We have to fight," Daisy said as Mick frowned. 

"Give it up Bellouve," Jake called out. "We've got you beat now!" 

"Surrender Agent Coulson, or maybe Daisy Johnson and we might let you live," called out the Assassin. 

"Over my dead body," Daisy prepared to attack. Out of the corner of Mick's eye he caught a slight bend of light. Before he could think, he saw it, almost like it was in slow motion. He grabbed Daisy, shoving her aside, then felt the burning pain of the bullet meant for her, slamming into his left shoulder. He crashed to the ground, wincing in tremendous pain. "Where did that come from?" She gasped looking down at the blood pouring from Mick's shoulder. 

Without a word, he reached up with his right arm shooting a series of webs in the direction, hoping to hit the shooter, but at least deterring them. "I'm fine, we need to move now!" 

"You're the farthest thing from fine!" Daisy bellowed as she helped Mick to his feet. 

"It's just a scratch!" Mick yelped as she pulled on him. He grabbed his pistol from his side, firing it blindly as a cloud of snow dust kicked up around them. 

"Oh thank God," Daisy said as they could hear shots ricocheting off the quinjet as the hatch opened. 

"Ok, maybe it's more than a scratch," Mick winced as Coulson helped him into the quinjet. 

"We need to get him to medical like it was yesterday!" Coulson demanded as Talbot helped Daisy onto the hatch. 

"Everyone inside?" May called from the cockpit. 

"Yeah! Punch it!" Daisy said as the hatch closed behind her. 

The pain in his arm was blinding. Coulson was prying with it which only made things worse. Mick had thankfully, or sadly depending on how you looked at things, grown used to being treated in the field. "How bad is it?" Mick asked as Daisy's expression wasn't good. 

"Well, it's in there," Coulson said with a hint of anxiety. 

"Isn't that better than completely through?" Mick asked, gritting his teeth. 

"Not always," May called back. 

"If you keep squirming then it could get lodged in there," Coulson frowned as Mick winced. "Any word from Lighthouse?" 

"No," May called out. "That's bothering me quite a bit." 

"Maybe they're just busy," Mick said as Daisy rolled her eyes. 

"Probably something to do with Fitz," Daisy huffed as Coulson glanced at her curiously. "It's a long story." 

"Let me guess," Coulson looked up at her. "Is that why your powers are back?" 

"Sore subject," Mick grunted. 

"I imagine everything with you is a sore subject," Coulson teased in his typical fatherly fashion, causing Mick to wince as he chuckled at the joke.

It gelt like ages before they reached the Lighthouse, Mick steadily holding his own against the searing pain of the bullet lodged in his shoulder. He was fully expecting to see Jemma, only to be met by a furious Mack and a panicked Piper. "Where's Simmons?" Coulson asked quickly. 

"She and Yo-yo broke out Fitz and took off on the Zephyr," Mack growled. 

"Seriously?" Daisy's tone was full of frustration. 

"I'm sorry, they tricked me," Mack said as May glanced at him curiously. "Simmons had this weird notion that she's invincible and made me think she drank some acid substance, and in the panic I let Fitz out to save her, only for Yo-yo to shove me into his cell." 

"So who else is here?" May asked as she lead Mrs. Hinton and Robin off the jet.

"No one," Piper replied as Mick winced as Mack and Piper tried to help him up to move him. 

"Peachy," Mick grunted. 

"You were trained as a medic weren't you?" Coulson turned to Piper. "We need to get that bullet out of his shoulder!"

"I never finished training!" She squeaked. 

"Then you tell me what needs to be done and I'll handle it," Mack said as Mick looked at him in both pain and uncertainty. "I got this Webby." 

"Just don't break me," Mick muttered as they carried him to medical. 

Daisy grabbed his hand as they laid Mick on the bed, his heart rate increasing rapidly as the pain intensified. "I'm right outside, I promise," she said softly as Mick nodded as her and Coulson stepped outside. 

"All we've got is low end pain meds," Piper said as she handed Mick a bottle of ibuprofen. Without a word he simply poured the bottle in his mouth, then traded the half full bottle for the water bottle in her other hand. "So much for your liver huh?" 

"I'll deal with that pain later," Mick grunted as he turned to Mack. "Fix it." 

"I'm going to try Webs," Mack said as Mick took in a deep breath bracing himself for what was coming next. 

"We need to open the wound to give us more room to see the bullet," Piper said as Mick could feel the color leave his face. 

"You sure you're going to be ok?" Mack asked as Mick nodded stoically. "Here we go." 

Mick fought hard against every urge to flee from the scalpel in Mack's hand. He grunted and growled as the blade cut into his skin. 

"Do you want something to bite down on?" Piper asked as Mick's breathing was speeding up. "I hear it helps." 

"No," Mick growled through his teeth, doing his best to not look over at Mack. "Just do what you have to do." 

"Wounds open," Mack said as Piper peaked over. 

"Now we need to look in there, should see the bullet. If we're lucky it's not too deep," Piper said as she pressed a tool into Mick's shoulder, which brought even worse pain causing him to cry out in agony. "This would be so much easier if you were unconscious."

"You think!" Mick yelled unintentionally. 

"I think I see it," Mack said as Mick bit down on his lip, unsure if he was going to draw blood, and didn't really care if he did. "This might hurt a bit." Mick nodded as Mack picked up a pair of tweezers. 

Mick felt his vision fade in and out, wishing he would actually pass out. How he hadn't yet was beyond his rational. He closed his eyes feeling the cold sweat dripping down his face. This pain was worse than almost anything he'd ever felt, including when the venom from Arachnid burned through his body, granting him the ability to shoot webs and enhancing his strength. He couldn't remember if the Darkforce was worse or not, but it was hard to think it was in the moment. 

"You still with us Webs?" Mack asked as Mick opened his eyes, surprised at how blurry his vision was. 

"Yeah," Mick winced as he felt Piper stitching up his wound while Mack held the bullet in his hand. 

"Got it," Mack said proudly as Mick smiled weakly. 

"All that pain over that stupid little thing," Mick grunted, feigning a smile. 

"You're lucky," Piper said as she stepped away from Mick. "It was inches from an artery." 

"Guess I should get a lottery ticket," Mick winced, grateful that that half bottle of medicine was finally easing some of his pain. 

"You're going to want to rest, it'll be rough if you break those stitches," Piper said as Mick nodded. 

"Didn't break you too much did I?" Mack asked as Mick shook his head. 

"Guess not," Mick said as Mack helped him to his feet. 

Mick made his way to Mission control with Mack staying beside him. Coulson was standing there, staring at the screens. "No word on where they went?" Mack asked as Coulson shook his head, then turned, surprised to see Mick standing. 

"I figured we could track the Zephyr, but they seemed to have disabled the tracker," Coulson said with a frown. 

"Why would they do that?" Mick asked as Coulson shrugged. 

"Perhaps they were afraid if I got out, I could alert you guys and you'd intercept them," Mack said in annoyance. 

"That doesn't make any sense though," Mick said with a huff. "What if they need our help?" 

"They're convinced by Simmons' stunt that they can't be hurt," Mack said as Coulson seemed to be lost in thought. 

"But our whole mission is to change the future! Why in all of hell would they do something that could put that at risk?" Mick yelled, catching both Coulson and Mack by surprise. 

"They must have a really good reason," Coulson said Mick rolled his eyes. "Or at least they better have one." 

"Got that right," Mack grunted. 

Coulson helped Mick to his bunk to sit down and relax, then left him alone. He wasn't alone very long before Daisy knocked on his open door. She smiled as she walked in, he tried to readjust in his bed, only for her to shake her head. "Don't hurt yourself," she said as Mick huffed. "How are you feeling?" 

"Sore," Mick said as Daisy smirked. "Guess it can be compared to when Fitz cut that chip out of you." 

"It's kind of weird how we've both had our friends cutting into us and doing surgery isn't it?" Daisy said with a smile sitting next to him.

"So you admit you're still friends with Fitz?" Mick asked as Daisy rolled her eyes. 

"Shut up," she pretended to hit him in the head. 

"Have you figured out where they are?" Mick asked as she shook her head. 

"I've got my laptop scanning for any signals, hopefully we'll have something soon," she said with a hopeful expression. "What do you think of their invincible theory?"

"I kind of get it," Mick said as he'd been thinking about that since they spoke about it. "For Deke to be Fitz and Simmons' grandkid, they have to exist in the future. Yo-yo said she saw herself in the future, so she'd have to be there too. Somehow they'd have to end up on the Lighthouse if you destroyed the world." 

"But what about the rest of us?" Daisy asked as Mick frowned. 

"Based on what Deke and Patten put together, and what we know, Coulson isn't going to make it. You destroy the world, I already told you, even if that happens I'm going to be right there with you, so I'd be gone too. Don't know about May, Mack, or Patten." Daisy's expression was somber, just as Mick's tone. "It doesn't matter, the future can't be written in stone." 

"Why do you think that? You didn't see what I saw," Daisy said 

"I know," Mick said placing his hand on hers. "But like I told you before, I'm not going to let whatever happened to cause you to end the world happen." 

"What if it's because you got hurt that I did that?" Daisy asked as Mick tilted his head. "What if losing you, just like I lost Lincoln, my mom, my dad, and if we can't figure out a way to save him, Coulson, is what makes me destroy the world?" Daisy seemed very sincere, which surprised Mick quite a bit. 

"You don't have to worry about losing me. I'm not going anywhere," Mick pulled her hand to his lips, kissing her gently. "And we're going to figure out a way to save Coulson. It's just what we do." 

"Please don't be reckless anymore," Daisy said as Mick looked at her curiously. 

"I'm not going to sit on the side and let someone hurt you." 

"I could've quaked it." 

"But you didn't see it coming, I did." Mick looked directly into her eyes, which seemed to be deeply sorrowful. "I didn't come this far to lose you. I didn't go through months of isolation and torment from General Hale just to lose you now. I don't care what the future you saw says, none of us are invincible." 

Daisy kissed him, Mick feeling the tears streaming down her face as he caressed her with his right hand. "I just hope you're right about changing the future," she said as she leaned on his chest. 

"I hope I am too," Mick said as he sighed.