Coulson looked at Fitz and ordered, "Fitz, open the door."
Fitz shook his head, "No way. Not until we figure this out."
"I'm not opening it."
Coulson raised his voice, "Open the door."
"If you don't open it, we can't figure anything out."
"I need you to connect your laptop to our system and see if you can access any S.H.I.E.L.D. communication logs."
"I need to know where we're going and why."
Turning to May, he added, "Stay put."
Fitz, seeing he had no choice, reluctantly opened the lab door, realizing that he and Simmons might have stirred up some serious trouble.
As the door opened, Coulson asked, "Tell me who Simmons spoke to about this. If it's someone we can't trust, she could be in serious danger right now."
…
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters —
Ten Minutes Earlier —
In the lab, Simmons was busy examining Fitz's blood sample when Agent Pritchard entered, knocking lightly on the door. Outside, the sound of agents running back and forth indicated high activity, as if the whole base was on edge.
"Agent Simmons," Pritchard greeted her.
Simmons quickly removed the blood vial from the equipment and placed it into a secure container.
"I was wondering where you snuck off to," Pritchard continued, smiling as he approached.
"Busy, huh?"
Simmons, glancing at him, replied, "Yes, but it's nothing urgent."
Pritchard remarked, "It's quite noisy around here today—lots of agents on assignment."
"I heard it's a Level 8 mission," Simmons explained.
"Didn't expect to have the whole lab to myself."
As Pritchard moved closer, he inquired, "What are you working on?"
Just as he was about to step beside her, Simmons quickly turned off her monitor.
Seeing the screen go dark, Pritchard gave her a knowing look, "Wow."
"Coulson's team sure is full of secrets—even by S.H.I.E.L.D. standards."
Then, with a more serious tone, he asked, "Are you hiding something, Agent?"
Simmons, trying to remain calm, shook her head and said, "No, nothing important."
Pritchard looked at Simmons and said, "Let's hope so."
"Because I seem to recall that we discovered a miracle drug that brought a dying agent back to life."
"That stuff is no joke—way stronger than the Continental Hotel's wax bath."
"You know the one—ten gold coins and a hundred grand just to use it."
Simmons nodded, "Yeah, I know."
Pritchard continued, "Come to think of it, I don't recall you ever reporting it."
"Not even when Agent Blake had his ribs shattered."
Simmons explained, "That's because I—"
Pritchard's expression turned serious, "If you had a way to save him and didn't use it, his death would be on your conscience."
Simmons nodded solemnly, "I understand."
Glancing at the agents walking past the lab door, Simmons stepped forward and shut it.
She turned to Pritchard and said, "I'll try again."
"Listen, people have died to keep this secret, and we still don't know why."
"For safety reasons, the research has to remain classified for now."
Pritchard furrowed his brow, "What research?"
Simmons clarified, "We've hit a wall. I'm uploading a scan of Fitz's blood results."
"I wanted to privately contact Agent Weaver at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy."
Pritchard asked, "You need help?"
Simmons nodded and continued, "But no one else can know about this—please. I don't want to cause trouble."
After a moment of consideration, Pritchard nodded, "You're a Level 5 agent?"
Simmons nodded again.
Seeing this, Pritchard decided to help. He was interested in seeing the miracle drug become widely available—it could prove invaluable someday, even for him.
Plus, the cost of the Continental's treatments was exorbitant, and earning gold coins wasn't easy. His rank wasn't high enough for lucrative side jobs.
"My Level 6 clearance grants access to the holophone—an encrypted line."
Simmons' eyes lit up with excitement, "How can we get it in here?"
Pritchard explained, "Agent Hand's got everyone running around, so we won't have a problem."
"If anyone asks, I'll handle it."
"Your lying skills are seriously lacking, Agent Simmons."
With that, Pritchard headed for the door.
Simmons watched Pritchard's retreating figure and called out, "I know, but I'm getting better."
…
084 Temporary Storage Warehouse —
Charles opened all the 084 item crates and began absorbing items into his system, recharging for points wherever possible.
After a thorough round of collection, he amassed a total of 40,000 gold coins, though many crates contained either dummies or items incompatible with recharging.
Still, Charles was pleased with the haul—Natasha's tip had proven more lucrative than the mission payout itself.
He pulled out his phone and scanned through the list of other S.H.I.E.L.D. bases provided by Red Queen.
[S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
Location: 219 West 47th Street, New York]
"That's nearby," Charles noted.
He spoke into his phone, "Red Queen, is there any cold storage location listed?"
A holographic figure appeared on the screen and responded through the speaker, "Master, there's no cold storage facility in the official S.H.I.E.L.D. records."
Charles sighed and shook his head. He knew this was where Killer Bee would prove useful—S.H.I.E.L.D. often kept vital information off digital records, either as hard copies or completely undocumented.
With that, he decided to investigate the nearby headquarters. A moment later, his figure vanished from the warehouse.