sudden change of heart and you're finally back in the game?

how long's it been, year and a half?

Never really left it. Did what I could. Just not enough — not when it counted. Not this time.

could've had me fooled. there's been cases of some of us going off the grid, body's still here but no one else is in.

and don't be too hard on yourself. we're devastated, all of us, but we're all in this knowing what the costs are— you planning on showing your face more? right now we need all the hands we can get.

These cases? Do they ever come back?

Oh believe me, I wanna get these fools just as much as you do.

not that we know of. you knew simon didn't you, the lantern from the other world? he's one of the latest cases. still here, but not quite. we have a whole list from just the past month alone. something's up, we're not sure what. not sure if it's connected to this libra bs, or — cobra command, for crying out loud. what is this, a video game?

Yeah I knew — know him. It’s happened before. The here not quite here. Hell, happened to me too. It’ll — it could right itself next month.

Video game, comic book, cartoons, we’re entertainment.

i'm hoping it will. frankly, this past week hasn't done a lot for morale, and we've never seen it happen to so many in a single month before. two months, if you count this one.

You can say that shit again. This.. shift, it’s unpredictable but I agree the timing is suspicious.

if i say that shit again, i might puke and i just took a shower from the last one.

you got any other leads for us? that joe of yours plays it too close to the vest. anything you can tell me, us, the team— misty, you know we're counting on you.

Too close to the vest ain’t a bad way to play it. I get what we’re dealing with though. It changes things. If I have something, you’ll know what I know. As long as I’m here, at least.

it used to be a shield agent vest i had to keep my cards close to. it can't work the same way here and you know it. here, there's no secrets behind level-10 clearance— not with the assembly. he's really putting me in a spot, keeping my mouth shut on why we're allowing some anon to casually hack into our systems every month...

but that's not what i called to talk about. didn't call to squeeze you for leads either. i won't beat around the bush, we have a spot open on the team. a few spots, to be frank. there's been some buzz about more of us all around the world— we don't know if it's true, if it's a trap— frankly, we don't know what the fuck is what.

logan says he caught a whiff of an old friend while we were getting the meds out where they were needed— and when logan smells an old friend, that usually means trouble— and that the possibility of more of us out there holds weight—

shit, i'm saying more than you need to know.

we've got a spot on the team. you in?

Let me think about it. My situation here makes taking the big risks difficult. I’ll do what I can though.

i can all but assure you that your situation here's not that much different from any of ours. is it the kid— she's got a kid sister, doesn't she?

jess has a son. sweet kid, eight years old. and he lost his mom this week. not out on the field, not a volunteer for a suicide mission, none of that. she's gone because we weren't doing our jobs. because i haven't been doing my job. that's not going to happen again.

She’s not gone ’cause you didn’t do your job. She’s gone ’cause we’re all in this fucked up situation in the first place. Where we can be on all the teams in the world and still not show up one month. Or you can show up get murdered on the steps of city hall trying to save a day that might reset itself at midnight for all we know.

I know the stakes. The risks. And for as long as I’m able I’m gonna see this Libra sonofabitch pay for the mess he started and the lives he took. Whether it’ll be on your team or not. Which I’ll think about and I’ll get back to you. In the meantime you’ll know when I have something.

i get where you're coming from, misty. you know i wouldn't be coming down this hard if it wasn't an emergency, if the situation wasn't desperate. left you alone for seventeen months, didn't i? i respect you, i respect your decisions, but you're wrong about whose fault this is. he's wrong about how things should be handled here— and yeah, i know he's part of your situation here; part of the stakes, part of the risks. i've read his files— back in the day, every agent with the clearance has read his files— it's no secret he doesn't play well with others. you on the other hand— nypd, fbi, countless task forces— murdock's trusted you, barton's trusted you, tony stark's trusted you. and while you're right about all the unpredictable factors here, how tough shit's gonna happen one way or another, that doesn't mean we sit around and just wait for them to. look what happened when we did.

misty, i'm talking about preemptive measures. i'm talking about a perimeter of defense. i'm talking about being prepared for when shit strikes — from any threat, not just some guy with a gold rod who struck first and hit us where it hurt.

can't speak for the rest of the team, but for me this isn't about playing avengers; i'm an agent of shield, always will be. so do me a favor and really think about it.

There’s no wrong or right way to survive. Being here this long, you adapt — and it’s different for everyone. I know what I was. What I am and I don’t plan on sitting around waiting for this shit to happen again. I don’t just talk so folks can hear my sweet ass voice — when I say I’m gonna do something, I do it. And I don’t normally repeat it.

that's all you're aiming for, just to survive? i'm barking up the wrong tree in that case. we're all survivors here, what this team needs is people who want to make a difference.

Am I trying to survive? Everyday. At first survive beyond a few minutes. Then a few hours. Then a couple of days. Then when the best I could manage was a week at a time, I wanted to make sure I came back ’cause if I stopped trying to survive I worried I might just skip back to wherever we go when we’re not here — where Simon might be. So you Goddamn right I’m trying survive — I ain’t no use otherwise and I plan on being of some use.

If my tree ain’t the one you trying to bark up then so be it ’cause at the end of the day, Sugar I’m gonna get shit done. We’re on the same side. We got the same mission.

what's this shit you're gonna get done, exactly? what's the mission? 'cause sugar, we might be on the same side, but we sure aren't helping each other achieve the same goals.

I didn’t have to tell you what I knew. I don’t have to be talking to you right now.

don't get me wrong, misty. i appreciate— we appreciate your help. as difficult as 'joe' is to work with, we appreciate his help too. i just think we could be doing more if we worked as a unit. if you'd sit in with us— just once, just see if you like it— without sneaking around on hacked lines.

when i head out with some of the team next month, it'd be nice knowing someone i trust — someone who's capable, someone with your skill set — is watching our backs from hq.

and why did you, by the way? why'd you call me, after a whole year and a half of radio silence?

I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve never seen anything like what happened to him. Not in this world. I can’t let that happen again.

you mean the tentacles, or the fact that none of us has ever been murdered on live television?

It always felt like someone’s twisted version of a game. Like we were being fucked with. Problem arises. Problem dealt with. Span of a week, it’s over. Almost like it didn’t feel real. I’d almost started to think we couldn’t die and then.. this.

And yeah the tentacles were pretty fucking gross.

i got a list of names saying that detail has definitely changed. something's telling me we're in for a lot more surprises— could be we just weren't paying attention— first it was boston, then san francisco, but as far as anyone remembers, there's never been a hint of shifters existing outside of our scope. and now booster's flooded with dm's from every continent, claims of heroes and powers. shifters. quacks, mostly, but we're trying to filter down the leads worth investigating.

Damn. There was a time when I wanted there to be more of us but even if there’s only a few real deals out of all the crazies, don’t know if that makes me feel better or not. It’s a hard life living this way and being alone. Especially alone and a target. And what happens to Boosters other self when midnight strikes?

we don't have the benefit of dwelling on how we feel about it. things are as they are, we just have to gather our bearings — quick — and start being more equipped to react to each new challenge as it comes. you've got heart, misty. just saying, but we might need more of that on the team too.

as for booster, the plan right now is to keep him on lockdown. kara's place has the security needed, more comfortable than a cell too— that isn't to say it's a great plan, but it's what we've got till we work out something better. ororo and logan will be handling his social media during the intermission. they're the only ones of us left with the ability to stick around longer than a week, so it's gonna be a tough change of pace for everyone, but they'll be keeping an eye out on him. remotely, as far as possible.

Let’s hope Libra isn’t one of the ones around when we aren’t either.

we're hoping. 'ro and logan aren't particularly confident about whether they'd be able to hold off another attack during our downtime...

Listen, this all sounds like you’re taking steps in the right direction and more folks to count on ain’t a bad thing. And I appreciate you keeping what you know about him to yourself. I want to help. And I know time has never been a luxury for folks like us but we’ll be talking real soon. You can ah, save a seat for me.

seat's got your name on it. and, heh, let's just say i'm not keeping secrets as a courtesy to the two of you. we just don't need more wmd's in the wrong hands.