HIATUS

Realizing the Victoria Hand had a list of all HYDRA operatives, the team once again asked if Melinda was HYDRA or not. They filled her in about the secure line that Agent May had inside the plane. Victoria was clueless about this but she was adamant that Agent May was not a HYDRA sleeper agent. So the team immediately went to 'The Cage' to release Agent May. The moment the door of the room was opened, they could see an annoyed May, who seems to have just woken up.

"I'm sorry, it seems that Victoria Hand believes that you are not HYDRA", Ward said.

"Apparently, she was able to obtain a list", Phil added.

Melinda didn't answer right away, she stare-down all the people in the room. One by one everyone felt guilty, Ward acted the same way as well. But on the inside, he was laughing. He considers this a prank that only he could enjoy.

"I told you I wasn't HYDRA", May said.

"We're so---"

Phil was unable to continue his sentence due to agent Jemma Simmons interjecting, "I mean you can't blame us. You have a secure line and Fitz finding it out the moment HYDRA activated all their agents". Everyone looks at Jemma practically telling her to stop talking." You are practically a victim of circumstances rea...l...l..y...", Jemma then notices the gazes that were on her and she immediately realized her mistake.

"What we are saying is that we're so sorry", Jemma added.

With a slight smile on Ward's face, he looks at Agent May and said, "I'm sorry for shooting you".

May didn't answer, this prompted Coulson to order the team inside the Hub. Both May and Ward trailed behind the group. While they were walking, Melinda looks at Ward and said, "I'll get you back for that". She then proceeded to quicken her pace and walk beside Phil who was walking in front of the team. Ward just sighed at Agent  May's threat.

The moment everyone entered the first floor of the Hub, they were shocked at what they saw. This was the second time they entered the Hub as a team but what they saw back then is different from what they are seeing now.

The floor had blood marks everywhere, windows were destroyed and even one of the supporting pillars of the building had a part of it removed.

"Damn, what happened here?", Fitz said as he surveyed the floor.

"Since they had a list, they might have tried capturing them but clearly HYDRA fought back", Phil replied.

Everyone just nodded at his statement and they just became quiet as they directly went to the command center of the Hub. They had different thoughts running through their minds. Both Jemma and Fitz were thinking about their friends back in Sci-Ops. The thought of them being killed was a scary thought that was beginning to continuously pop in their head.

While both May and Phil were thinking about the ramifications of this event not just through S.H.I.E.L.D. but to the whole world.

Once the other nations know about this event, it would signal a huge blow to the integrity and authority that S.H.I.E.l.D. has enjoyed throughout the years. The United Nations could even label the agency as a terrorist organization. This would then lessen the influences they had around the globe. They could find the badge that they have worked so hard for meaning nothing more than a worthless piece of metal.

Skye on the other hand is still a trainee. This had limited her from knowing too much of the things the S.H.I.E.L.D. does throughout the world. She just wanted to help in any way that she can.

While the people in front of him were worried about S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward was not. The moment they entered the building, he could immediately feel the presence of a Phantom hiding in the shadows. It was one of the 'just in case' things Zero had put in place.

No, the thought that was on Ward's mind has something to do with the future. He knows that his job is nearly done. HYDRA has already shown its fangs and he had no clue what he was going to do after the entire HYDRA ordeal was taken care of. Erik has barely anything to do in the lighthouse. The Chronicoms and all of Ethan's clones have the jobs there under their control. So the missions that Ethan sends Erik were incredibly scarce. This has prompted Erik to take care of some of the warlords in Africa as a way to kill time.

While Ava was still in space, and she clearly enjoys her job there but if you asked Ethan then he would say that she was enjoying it a little too much.

They eventually found themselves in the command center of the Hub. Inside they could see the main computer screen being replace due to multiple bullets landing on it. There were a few blood marks on the floor but aside from that, the command center is still good enough to be operating.

In the middle of the room, you could see Victoria Hand with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was clearly giving out commands to everyone in the room

Phil approaches her and made a few coughing sounds to get her attention, "Agent Victoria Hand".

Realizing someone called her, Victoria turned around towards the door and said, "Good you here, Agent Coulson".

"What's the status report of the Hub?"

"Right now, The Hub is fully in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control. Surely when you entered the building you saw the destruction and the blood all around you"

"Yep, it hits you immediately once you enter the building"

"Once the signal was out, I immediately gather all loyal S.H.I.E.L.D agents to kill all HYDRA moles hiding in the Hub. At first, it was hard for my agents to kill the people that they thought were their family and friends, we lost a few because of that hesitation. But after that, we were able to fight back and kill every single one of those moles hiding in the agency", Victoria Hand stated.

While the Phantoms needed to act to kill the first wave of HYDRA agents, Victoria Hand finished the job and took out the ones that were still in hiding.

"Why did you control our plane?". Fitz asked.

"I wanted you to immediately get out of the air. We have reports that confirm multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft being shot at and destroyed while in flight. You didn't have any escort so I decided to bring you in. Plus I wanted to make sure that HYDRA didn't place any moles in your team. We were not sure if HYDRA added a person in your team that wasn't written in the Flight Manifest"

"What about that other S.H.I.E.L.D. bases?", Agent May asked.

"As of right now, aside from the Hub, there are two other bases that would soon be in S.H.I.E.L.D. control, the Illiad, and the academy".

"Good. Is there anything else we could do?", Phil asked.

"We have information that John Garrett is HYDRA and he has some powerful soldiers fighting for him. We believe that he is arming his forces and attacking the F.R.I.D.G.E."

The F.R.I.D.G.E. is a S.H.I.E.L.D. detainment and storage facility. Its location is classified and only available to those high ranking members of the agency. The facility contains multiple weapons such as weapons that were made using the Tesseract during World War 2 and an Asgardian berserker staff. It also detains powerful and dangerous enhanced individuals that S.H.I.E.L.D has captured throughout the years. If Garret gets his hand on those two things then HYDRA will become harder to deal with.

"I can only spare you, one strike team, for you and your team. While in the air you will be escorted by two fighter jets just in case someone attacks mid-flight. You need to make sure that the F.R.I.E.D.G.E is reinforced. We can't allow the enemy to have the things inside", Agent Hand ordered.

"Of course, I will have my team ready and we will go there immediately. But I want you to answer me one question first", Phil said. Victoria nodded indicating for Phil to ask his question.

"How did you get the list?"

"It was given to me", Victoria answered.

Phil narrowed his eyes and said, "By who?".

"Zero"