Heroes Assemble!

You Ain't Locking Me Up!

A quick knock on the door was followed by May striding in before Coulson had even had a chance to look up and give her permission to enter.

"By all means, come right in," he deadpanned.

May simply gave him a look, one of those that he'd learnt years ago to ignore, especially when it was directed at him. Reaching across his desk, she tapped a button on the side, lowering the screen that was primarily used for a conference call.

"I'm guessing that this is important?" he asked, standing and buttoning his jacket.

A second look told him that it was. Thankfully, she actually explained more.

"Talbot's on the line."

"Well, we don't want to keep the General waiting, do we?" he asked as he rounded his desk.

A nod from him had her opening the line.

"General," he greeted.

"Coulson. And May, I see," Talbot nodded, his eyes darting about the room as they always did.

One day, Coulson hoped, Talbot would get over his need to try to find out where they were based.

"I'm guessing that you have something for us?" Coulson prompted.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes. We could use your expertise," he said, all but spitting the last word.

"Well, we're here to help," Coulson smiled.

"You or your boys ever seen anything like this before?" Talbot asked as he glanced down and punched something on his desk.

Instantly, the screen split in two and Coulson focussed on the half that didn't contain General Glen Talbot.

What he was seeing looked to be the security footage from a shop. Judging by the isles of bottles closest to the camera, he suspected that it was either a supermarket or a pharmacy. A woman appeared from the right and Coulson focussed on her. She strolled into one aisle, stood in front of the shelves for a minute before picking a bottle and going to the counter to pay for it.

It was after the transaction had been completed that things went pear-shaped.

The woman stopped on her way towards the door, allowing them to see her in profile while she uncapped the bottle, tipped it into the palm of her hand and swallowed something. For a moment, nothing happened. But them, she froze and seemed to be peering down at her stomach. Even in the grainy image, it was easy to see that some sort of black crust was quickly consuming her, growing from her stomach, around to her back, down her legs, up her torso and out to her arms and head.

Coulson stared at what he was seeing, only managing to tear his gaze away for a moment to share a grim look with May.

And then the black crust on the woman began cracking and falling away, revealing her to be alive and whole. The sales clerk, by this time, had rushed around to her and was talking to her, although what was being said was anyone's guess – the footage being without sound, after all. The woman seemed to be taking deep breaths, one hand on her chest. With the other, she reached out to grab the counter.

And instantly fell through it.

Nothing was damaged and even when the woman scrambled upright, she was unharmed as well. It was simply the fact that she couldn't touch anything at all – evidenced by the fact that she began waving her arms all over the place and having them pass straight through everything.

Suddenly, the footage froze.

"Well? I'm guessing your freakshow has some clue as to what's going on?" Talbot asked.