Affinity || GRANT WARD [1]

SE 1: EP 7 ― The Hub

2013 ― The Hub

Audrey, Grant, and May went on an extraction mission to get Coulson and another agent named Shaw. They didn't know the details of the mission, they only knew they were extraction. The mission details were for clearance level 8. May, Grant, and Audrey were only clearance level 7. Once they were back on The Bus, they headed to The Hub to drop off the intel that was found and Agent Shaw. Fitz and Skye offered to help with the encrypted chip, but Coulson declined.

"I'm afraid this mission is classified. Clearance level 8." Coulson said. Audrey and Grant shared a look before shrugging their shoulders. They just made it to level 7 before being added to this team. Fitz-Simmons and May also shrugged off Coulson's words, but Skye, of course, couldn't let it go.

"Wait, what? He can just shut us out of the process like that?" Skye asked.

"Uh, yeah," Audrey said as if it were obvious.

"Well, he did say the mission is level 8," Fitz said.

"And we're not level 8, so we can't know about it," Simmons said.

"Right, but this is normally the part where we all stand around the holocom, and we learn about stuff. I mean, aren't we all on the same team?" Skye asked.

"No need to get started on one of your socialist riffs," Fitz said, making Audrey laugh.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s whole infrastructure is based on the hierarchy and compartmentalization of intelligence," Simmons said.

"Every agent can't have intel on every mission. It would make the entire organization vulnerable," Grant said.

"Okay, fine, but if I had just fought my way out of an underground Siberian prison, I'd kind of want to know what for," Skye said as she looked at Grant and Audrey since that's what they had just done to extract Coulson and Agent Shaw.

"Coulson's got you used to the plane and the way we do missions here. The Hub is different," May said, and then she walked away with no further explanation. Skye turned to Audrey and Grant.

"The Hub? What's the Hub?"

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"I didn't realize Big Brother was this big," Skye said as the team was walking through The Hub. There were agents everywhere. Men in suits, women in pants suits, except for Skye, who was in normal clothing since technically she's a consultant, not an Agent.

"Oh, this is nothing. Wait until you see the Triskelion," Simmons said, and Audrey smiled. The Triskelion was in D.C., and that's where she was working out of until she got assigned to this team.

"Everyone is wearing the same suit; someone tell me why, please," Skye said as they all passed the reception desk that had their badges with their clearance levels waiting for them. Audrey grabbed hers and clipped it on as they continued walking. "Do I get one?" Skye asked.