My first publishable foray into the world of Agents of SHIELD. An AU of the episode Yes, Men, in which Coulson is the one hijacked by Lorelei's charms (as opposed to Ward), and the team goes on a very personal mission to get him back. It will alternate between Coulson's, May's, and the rest of the team's point of view, with each chapter flipping between each of the three once.

This one is actually finished (I've learned it's better to finish these things before I publish chapters so that I know it'll all get posted), so if I don't post every few days/once a week, feel free to message me and let me know I'm slacking. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!

Emrose

COULSON

How he finds himself in these situations he'll never know, but he supposes it comes with the job description. Though somehow he doesn't remember reading "Must be willing to lay siege to bars in the middle of the Nevada desert in order to capture rogue Asgardian sorceresses hell-bent on conquering planet Earth" in his S.H.I.E.L.D. contract. Perhaps it was in the fine print.

Coulson jerks his head around towards the back, ducking instinctively as bits of truck and other unidentifiable metal shrapnel whistle past their heads, accompanied by loud, not-so-manly screams and the unmistakable sounds of Lady Sif wreaking havoc in the building in front of them.

"I'll head around back," he says. "Cover Sif from the front."

"Yes, sir," Ward says, and they trade places smoothly—Wards crouches forward and covers him with a rapid burst of gunfire, and Coulson slips away around the back of the bar, head ringing with the rapid patter of shots and breaking glass and cracking furniture from inside the bar. Lady Sif is, he is sure, is handling herself magnificently inside, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

A big, broad-shouldered biker is waiting to jump him behind the bar, but even though he is two or three inches shorter and more than several pounds lighter than the guy, he has no problem taking the poor man out. Under Lorelei's spell, obviously, but not a big threat…not to someone proficient in three disciplines of martial arts, who excels at fighting dirty (just ask Agent May—there's a reason they were fairly decently-matched sparring partners in the old days), was top in the Academy in weapons training, and has taken on an Asgardian God and lived (sort of) to tell the tale, anyway.

He is picking up his fallen gun from the ground and wiping the sweat and dirt out of his eyes when he hears someone drop to the ground behind him. Since the man with the leather jacket ("Rooster?" Really?) is still out cold on the ground in front of him, he braces himself for the worst. It comes.

"Your warriors are brave."

The voice is sweet, lilting, and quite possibly the most beautiful sound he has ever heard. It is also quite expected, and he grits his teeth. He's in trouble.

He turns sharply, lifting his gun and locking his elbow in place. Lorelei is as beautiful as is her voice, and he thinks that, if she had been human and not a sadistic would-be conqueror threatening planet earth and all of humanity and he were not an agent in a secret government agency sworn to take her down at all costs, he would have been quite attracted to her.

"Hands behind your head," he says, though he knows that she could take him apart with one or two well-placed blows if she were so inclined. "On the ground, Lorelei."

She smiles, showing two even rows of bright white teeth that remind him somewhat of a dangerous, starving, very clever jungle cat. "I would do well to have men like you in my army. Won't you put your weapon down? Our talk will be much more pleasant without."

"Yeah, not going to happen," he says, and as she starts to advance he tries to take a step back and finds that his feet do not want to obey. Powerful sorcery, indeed. "I'm gonna need some backup over here," he says into his comm, but Lorelei is right in front of him now and he stumbles back, gritting his teeth.

"You are brave, and quite resourceful," she says, and smiles at him again. He blinks, bites down on the insides of his cheeks so hard he tastes blood, and rises just a little from her spell, just enough to tighten his grip on his gun and squeeze the trigger just a hair… "You hold a position of power, do you not? And you have access to many resources," she continues. "Your courage is no less than that of an Asgardian warrior."

"Save the flattery for someone who actually cares," he says. "Sorry. Not much of a flirt. Doesn't go with the job description. And oh, take one more step and I shoot." But she is already reaching for his shoulder and before he can make his finger pull the trigger she is touching his arm.

He sinks deep inside himself, and when he emerges from the cold and the black and the confusion, he sees her face and everything is light and warm and perfect.

Coulson drops the gun.

MAY

He has taken her to Vegas on stolen motorbike. Coulson might not be much for technology, but he's always had a thing for anything with an engine that moves (or has the potential to move with a little tinkering), and May has no doubt that he thrilled at the chance to sit on a bike again. Especially with the Asgardian Seductress sitting pretty behind him. Not that she wants to think about Coulson with Lorelei—on the contrary, she'd rather think of just about anything else, but with him out of the picture she has taken charge of the Bus (Ward offered subtly to take the lead on this one, but she knows when he's just being macho and it only took one look from her to put him firmly in his place).

Honestly, she likes the man fine, but his eyes flickering constantly to hers just to see if she's okay, to see if she's holding up, to see if she's too emotionally compromised to see the situation clearly, is starting to really grate on her nerves. She doesn't mind their little liaison, but she's starting to wonder if it's really what she wants, if it's really worth it, if she's not digging herself into a hole that she's going to regret having to climb out of in the not-so-distant future.

She misses Coulson, and he's only been gone less than 48 hours.

And with Coulson gone, no one else in the world matters.

So she flies the Bus to Vegas and descends on the hospital bay and Skye, who is antsy and pale but typing furiously on her laptop. Ward, Fitz, and Simmons are gathered around her bed, listening to her explain the number of various locations in which she believes Coulson could have taken Lorelei. As May listens to the difficulties Skye is having in pinpointing Coulson's location, she has to take a moment and appreciate his mastery of tactics and strategy—he has always been brilliant at that sort of thing, which is why he rose through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ranks so quickly and effortlessly…and why it's going to be tricky to pin him down.

But fortunately, even Coulson can't escape Skye's all-seeing eyes for long, and less than two days after Coulson has disappeared into the desert with an Asgardian demon-goddess on a stolen Harley, May is leading a team of female SHIELD agents into a hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Ward, she leaves on the Bus, because they can't afford to lose him too…the damage he could inflict on any one of them is too astronomical to consider. At least they've got the advantage here in that May can kick Coulson's butt in a one-on-one (provided he doesn't play dirty, which he tends to do when they're sparring and which she finds irritating, especially when a match ends with her back against the mat because he cheated) and that the one machine Coulson can't manipulate is the kind that flies, which means he can't disappear too far too fast.

"You injure him and you're dead," she tells the team as they approach the hotel room door. She doesn't need to look them all in the eyes for them to know she's absolutely serious. "Icers only. And only if absolutely necessary. Shoot to kill Lorelei—leave Agent Coulson to me."

A chorus of "Yes, Ma'ams" is only slightly reassuring, and though she feels sick to her stomach at the thought of one of them plugging Coulson with a bullet she kicks her way through the door and bursts into the room like a juggernaut. The only thing worse than Coulson injured is Coulson with Lorelei.

But as the soldiers pour into the room behind her, she knows instinctively that their search is futile. She can see that they were there—the bed is unmade, the lampshade slightly askew on the tabletop, a small handful of debris in the trashcan. She scans the room quickly, finds nothing useful, and lifts her hand, fear and anger making her stomach twist.

"Clear!"

But just as she is about to turn to the door and contact Skye and Ward, something catches her eye, poking out from underneath the comforter half-flung off the bed. She bends down and pulls at it slowly, holding it up in front of her like she's afraid it will bite her.

Coulson's tie. Conservative, dark blue, expensive and tasteful. On the floor, under the bed, discarded, useless, forgotten.

"Ma'am?"

The last agent is waiting respectfully by the door, and May swims out of her momentary fog of nearly overwhelming fury and fear (if they never get him back, she doesn't know what she'll do, so she has to get him back, she simply has to). She tucks the tie into her shirt, against her heart, and precedes the agent out of the door without a word.

Skye watches Agent May storm around the Plane, and she can see that May is beyond worried, beyond angry, beyond frustrated, and possibly bordering on the psychotic. The rest of the team sees it too—FitzSimmons are studiously avoiding her, scrambling about with muttered nonsense about things to do and tests to run every time she turns up, and Ward is being even more mysterious, grumpy, and taciturn than ever, though it's hard to tell whether that's because Coulson is missing or May appears to be giving him the extreme version of a cold shoulder.

SKYE

Skye isn't stupid—she knows they've been having a thing behind everyone's backs, but based on May's mood, Ward's silence (he's been hanging around the med bay as much as possible since May won't let him off the Bus with Lorelei on the loose), the agonizing tension in the room whenever the two of them cross paths, and the common denominator of Missing, Possessed Agent Boss, she suspects that it might be nearing the end of whatever they have between the two of them.

Not that she cares either way.

The genius and madness of Melinda May is that none of the extra agents running around the Bus can tell that she's anything other than calm, collected, and completely on top of things. She is as self-assured, confident, and silent as always (except when she is barking orders or asking for updates on Coulson's position), and has slipped into Coulson's role as Agent in Charge as easily as beating Fitz in a sparring match. Even Agent Hand is staying out of her way.

"Any more information on Agent Coulson's location, Skye?"

It is May, again, appearing like a wraith in the doorway, and Simmons yelps like a wounded puppy and skitters around looking busy and avoiding her eyes. May ignores her.

"I think…I think I'm close," Skye says, knowing that it's not good enough. "I'm sorry, Agent May, but he's really good at this whole hiding thing."

"Yes. He is. Keep looking."

"Yes, ma'am." She's been doing nothing but looking for the last 48 hours—she's spent nearly every waking moment (when she's not being fussed over by Simmons) looking, and she's nearly at the end of her rope. She feels the weight of the entire mission on her shoulders, and if it weren't for Simmons and Ward offering their silent and inexhaustible support, she's afraid it might break her.

But May doesn't leave—she waits there in the doorway, arms folded, and Skye notices that she's leaning up against the frame. Something that Agent May doesn't do.

"Are you…ok?" she ventures, and next to the bed Simmons cringes and glances around at them both. Skye is aware that it's not a question one usually poses to May, because the most it ever gets in response is a cool glare intended to curdle the blood and break bone, but this time May just looks at her, and something very human and bright flickers in her eyes.

"Yes," she says, and her jaw tightens for a moment. Then her face softens just a little, almost imperceptibly. "Just find him, Skye. If anyone can, it's you. SHIELD can only do so much when a Level 8 goes undercover, and Coulson is one of the best. Use every resource you have."

Skye can only nod wordlessly, and without a backward glance, May is gone. Maybe, Skye thinks, she isn't the only one who feels the enormous weight of Coulson's disappearance, and that thought strengthens her more than anything.

"She is genuinely worried," Simmons observes. "And also quite tired. I don't think she's slept since he went missing, honestly." Skye lifts her eyebrows.

"You think? I've never seen May that emotive, ever."

"She really cares for him," Simmons says. "Coulson, I mean. You can tell."

"Yeah, we all do," Skye says, but she knows that what May feels for Coulson is a world different than what she or FitzSimmons or Ward feels for him, and whether or not it's love in that way makes no difference.

May will stop at nothing to get him back, and neither will Skye.

Less than an hour later, she has a hit.

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