The Jotun's Daughter

Chapter 19

"Ok, so it seems that the portal is located in...well..." Simmons stumbled over her words. May looked at her sharply.

        "The Amazon," Fitz finished simply. Mack's head drew back and Coulson blinked as they both took in the news. May turned to me, but I knew her question before she asked it.

        "I don't know where Mom went when she disappeared." I said flatly, "I tried to follow her once-she vanished while I thought I was looking right at her. If she didn't want to be found, no one could find her."

        "Sky?" Fitz looked astounded. He and Gemma glanced at each other.

        "What?" I studied their interaction.

        "Well, it's just...Sky wasn't very good at undercover work, at least when she worked with us." Simmons made a face. "Don't get me wrong, she could do assignments, but long-term disappearing..."

        "Are you sure that we're talking about the same person here?" Mack had the same expression. 

        "When Sky left, she was different, changing," Coulson said plainly. "She directly told me that if we ever met again I wouldn't know her." He looked at me. "I knew who walked out of the hanger those years ago. But the person that you keep describing..."

        "It doesn't sound like Sky," May finished. 

        "But it has to be," Mack said quietly. Simmons nodded.

        "The blood sample are a direct match," She shrugged. "It's just thinking about the woman we knew as the woman you know...it's hard," Her voice faltered slightly, and she looked down at the clipboard in her hands.

        "Where in the Amazon?" Jase's question made me straighten. I had forgotten that he was here. 

        "Right." Fitz moved to a holographic pad that he had brought with him off the plane. He brought up the maps and showed us the dense forest.

        "We've located a malfunction in the magnetic fields around here," Simmons pointed to the area, "But that's not all." Fitz continued, his words clipped. Simmons sighed. 

"This is the same place that we buried the remains of some of the Chitari after New York. We've detected odd eruptions of radiation in the area...possibly alien." Coulson looked at her in alarm. 

"I though that the Chitari were all destroyed in New York. Stark himself made sure of it."

        "Yes, well...the forces of the portal might have given off enough gamma radiation to cause some of the forms to reactivate," Simmons grimaced. 

        "Should I send Stark a message?" May questioned, but Coulson shook his head. 

        "That won't be necessary," He replied. May gave him an odd look, and he jerked his head towards me and Jase, who blushed. He turned to the rest of the team. 

"Pack your stuff. We'll reload tomorrow and hopefully be in the air before noon. Even with the jet, it might take a few to reach the portal-and we have to have a place to land. Get some sleep. We'll be leaving early." He gave us a nod and started to walk out, when Marty, who had been listening, spoke up.

        "I'll give di Angelo a heads up." Coulson turned to her, but it was Jase who spoke.

        "Why?" Jase glanced around at the group, "We don't need him, and he's not a part of this." Marty looked at him.

"Not to mention I didn't clear that," Coulson's brow furrowed. Marty crossed her arms.

"Nico is the only person who can yank Kayla out of that situation if something go sideways in a way that can't be traced by anyone-or anything-there. You said she's the whole reason all of this is happening, right?" Marty's gaze flickered to me, "You need a backdoor, and no offense, but none of you are a good option." I knew she was making it too personal, but I also couldn't argue with her logic. May gave her a small nod, and then we all dispersed. Once I opened the second set of double doors leading out of the lab, the music hit me full blast. I had forgotten about the dance going on below us. I reached the balcony and took in the sight of highly-skilled and trained Scorpions dancing, laughing, and dressed up beneath me. Jase joined me, looking down at them.